Executive Order 14081, signed by President Biden on September 12, 2022, directed more than a dozen federal agencies to coordinate research funding, manufacturing investment, workforce training, procurement, and biosecurity work around a single goal: strengthening the American bioeconomy. It was revoked in March 2025 by Executive Order 14236, which rescinded dozens of Biden-era directives at once.1The White House. Additional Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions Some of the programs it launched continue under separate statutory or contractual authority; the coordination structure and reporting deadlines the order created do not.
What the Order Covered
The bioeconomy, as the order used the term, refers to economic activity built on biological resources: microorganisms and plant matter used to make fuels and chemicals, genetic data underpinning drug development, agricultural inputs engineered for yield or disease resistance. Rather than targeting one industry, EO 14081 set a unified federal policy across health, energy, agriculture, defense, and commerce, with the stated aim of positioning the United States as a global leader in applied biology.2The American Presidency Project. Executive Order 14081 – Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy
The order touched seven main areas: agency research priorities, domestic biomanufacturing capacity, a federal biological data initiative, procurement of biobased products, workforce development, modernization of biotechnology regulation, and biosafety and biosecurity.
What Agencies Were Required to Do
Section 3 required Health and Human Services, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Agriculture to submit reports identifying high-priority research needs and opportunities for public-private collaboration, each including recommendations on biosafety and biosecurity. HHS focused on medical breakthroughs and disease burden, Energy on climate applications including carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas reduction, and Agriculture on sustainability, land conservation, crop yields, nutritional quality, pest resistance, and alternative food sources.2The American Presidency Project. Executive Order 14081 – Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy The Office of Science and Technology Policy published a resulting document, “Bold Goals for U.S. Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing,” in March 2023.
Section 5 tackled the gap between laboratory-stage breakthroughs and commercial-scale production. The National Security Advisor and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy were told to develop a domestic biomanufacturing strategy that also reduced foreign adversary involvement in the supply chain and strengthened cybersecurity at biomanufacturing facilities. Four agencies received specific directives: the National Science Foundation was to expand its Regional Innovation Engine program into emerging biotechnologies; the Department of Commerce was to address supply chain challenges; the Department of Defense was to incentivize flexible domestic biomanufacturing for defense materials; and the Department of Energy was to accelerate bioenergy research and reduce commercialization barriers.2The American Presidency Project. Executive Order 14081 – Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy
DOD became the largest single investor. The Government Accountability Office reports that DOD has invested $965.2 million since 2021 across three initiatives supporting biotechnology projects, building a network of biomanufacturing facilities, and helping industry partners plan commercial-scale production sites for dual-use biomaterials.3U.S. GAO. Defense Industrial Base – DOD Efforts to Develop Domestic Biomanufacturing
The order also established a Data for the Bioeconomy Initiative requiring agencies to catalog existing biological data sets, including genomic sequences and broader multi-omic information on proteins and metabolites, in standardized formats findable and usable across platforms. Security protocols had to balance open access with protection against misuse. In December 2023, the Interagency Working Group on Data for the Bioeconomy published “Vision, Needs, and Proposed Actions for Data for the Bioeconomy Initiative.”
Section 6 used federal purchasing power. It built on the BioPreferred Program, under which USDA has identified 143 categories of biobased products, from cleaners and lubricants to carpet and paints, for which agencies and their contractors face mandatory purchasing requirements.4BioPreferred. Mandatory Federal Purchasing The order added deadlines for agencies without a biobased procurement program to establish one, required training for contracting officers and purchase card holders, and directed annual reporting to the Office of Management and Budget, which was to publish scorecards to encourage increased purchasing.2The American Presidency Project. Executive Order 14081 – Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy
Section 7 directed Commerce, Labor, Education, OSTP, and NSF to produce a public plan for coordinating federal education and training in biotechnology and biomanufacturing, including technical schools, certificate programs, career and technical education, and degree pathways. The order specifically called out the role of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Minority Serving Institutions, and directed agencies to use existing authorities to promote racial and gender equity in bioeconomy workforce development. OSTP published a “Building the Bioworkforce of the Future” action plan in June 2023.
Section 8 addressed the regulatory landscape. Three agencies share responsibility for reviewing genetically engineered products under the Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology: EPA, FDA, and USDA. The framework dates to the 1980s and was last updated in 2017.5Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Modernizing the Regulatory System for Biotechnology Products The order required the three agencies to identify ambiguities and gaps in engagement with developers, publish plain-language guidance on which agency oversees which product types, and expand the Unified Website for Biotechnology Regulation so developers could submit product-specific inquiries and receive a coordinated response.
Section 9 launched a Biosafety and Biosecurity Innovation Initiative led by HHS. Agencies funding or conducting life sciences research were directed to prioritize applied biosafety research and to use federal biotechnology funding to incentivize stronger biosecurity practices domestically and abroad. HHS and the Department of Homeland Security had to produce a biosafety and biosecurity plan for the bioeconomy, and international engagement was to focus on dual-use research of concern and potentially pandemic pathogens.
How the Order Was Revoked
Executive Order 14236, signed in March 2025, revoked EO 14081 as part of a broader rescission of Biden-era executive actions.1The White House. Additional Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions No agency is any longer required to meet the deadlines, submit the reports, or pursue the coordination strategies the order mandated. Reporting to OMB on biobased procurement under EO 14081, workforce training plans, and the annual regulatory modernization updates all lost their executive authority.
What Survived and What Did Not
Several programs set in motion by or referenced in EO 14081 have independent legal footing and continue to operate.
The BioPreferred Program’s mandatory federal purchasing requirements rest on 7 U.S.C. ยง 8102, not on the executive order, and were not eliminated by the revocation.6BioPreferred. About the BioPreferred Program The additional reporting and training obligations EO 14081 layered on top, however, no longer carry executive authority.
DOD’s biomanufacturing investments were funded through congressional appropriations. DOD plans to wind down two of its three initiatives after fiscal years 2027 and 2028, and a congressionally mandated roadmap laying out future biotechnology investment priorities is expected by September 2026.3U.S. GAO. Defense Industrial Base – DOD Efforts to Develop Domestic Biomanufacturing
The Coordinated Framework itself is a longstanding interagency agreement that predates EO 14081 by decades and continues in force. The unified portal at usbiotechnologyregulation.mrp.usda.gov remains live as of mid-2026, with an interactive tool for genetically modified microorganisms and centralized links to EPA, FDA, and USDA requirements.7Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Unified Website for Biotechnology Regulation Some plain-language guidance produced under Section 8 was completed before the revocation, including a stakeholder outreach report on regulatory ambiguities and a joint guide to the Coordinated Framework.
Biosecurity oversight also has an independent track. In May 2024, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released a unified policy for oversight of dual-use research of concern and pathogens with enhanced pandemic potential, combining two previously separate frameworks into a single set of requirements with expanded scope.8Office of Science Policy. US Government Releases Policy for Oversight of Dual Use Research of Concern and Pathogens with Enhanced Pandemic Potential That policy operates independently of the now-revoked executive order.
What disappeared with the revocation is the centralized coordination mechanism that forced agencies to move on shared timelines, published strategy documents, and reported results to a common authority. Whether the guidance and recommendations produced during the order’s short operational life will continue to shape agency practice is an open question that each department will answer on its own.