ExecutiveOrdersEO
MemoMemorandumTrump 45 · R

Presidential Memorandum

Expanding State-Approved Diagnostic Tests

This memorandum directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to facilitate state requests for flexibility to authorize in-state laboratories to develop and perform COVID-19 diagnostic tests, building on an earlier FDA-State of New York coordination model. It establishes a policy of offering states regulatory flexibility in public health emergency response.

Federal Register Open PDF 85 FR 15335

Key directives

  • Secretary shall take appropriate action to facilitate state requests for laboratory testing flexibility

Who is ordered

Timeline

Immediate

  • Secretary authorized to receive and act on state requests for testing flexibility

Near term (90d)

  • Potential expansion of state-authorized COVID-19 testing capacity

Long term

  • Precedent for state-federal regulatory flexibility in public health emergencies

Risks & tensions

  • Vague 'appropriate action' and 'consistent with law' language leaves discretion unclear; no enforcement mechanism if Secretary declines requests
  • Potential tension between state authorization and federal regulatory standards (FDA oversight)
  • Unclear whether this supersedes or operates alongside existing FDA emergency use authorization pathways
Presidential Memorandum: Expanding State-Approved Diagnostic Tests · Executive Orders