Executive Order 14305

Executive Order 14305, "Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty," was signed by Donald Trump on June 6, 2025, and published in the Federal Register on June 11, 2025 at 90 FR 24719.¹ It directs the Federal Aviation Administration to carry out the rulemaking required by section 2209 of the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016, establishes a Federal Task Force to Restore American Airspace Sovereignty, and sets deadlines for the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to expand counter-drone detection, enforcement and training.

Text of the order

Section 1 states that "Drug cartels use UAS to smuggle fentanyl across our borders, deliver contraband into prisons, surveil law enforcement, and otherwise endanger the public," that "Mass gatherings are vulnerable to disruptions and threats by unauthorized UAS flights," and that critical infrastructure, including military bases, is subject to UAS incursions that are frequent and "often unidentified."¹ Section 3 states the policy "to ensure control over our national airspace" and to protect "military and sensitive government installations and operations" from "the careless or unlawful use of UAS."¹

Section 4 establishes the Federal Task Force to Restore American Airspace Sovereignty. "The Task Force shall be chaired by the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (APNSA) or a designee," with principals from executive departments and agencies "as identified by the APNSA," and it is to "make recommendations on the implementation of all actions identified in this order."¹

Section 5 gives the FAA three duties. Under section 5(a) it is to submit the section 2209 proposed rule "promptly" to the Office of Management and Budget and the task force, and to promulgate a final rule "as soon as practicable after publication of the NPRM." Under section 5(b) it is to make national security and homeland security assessments under section 2209 in coordination with Sector Risk Management Agencies, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security or the Attorney General, and with the Secretary of Defense "whenever military installations or operations are implicated." Under section 5(c) it is, within 180 days, to make Notices to Airmen and Temporary Flight Restrictions freely available online "in an open format easily accepted for drone geofencing and Aircraft Navigation and Guidance system purposes."¹

Section 6 directs the Attorney General to ensure "full enforcement of applicable civil and criminal laws when drone operators endanger the public," to submit to the President, on a recurring basis, legislative proposals that would revise criminal penalties for violations of restricted airspace. Under section 6(c) the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security are to ensure within 30 days that their grant programs permit state, local, tribal and territorial agencies to receive grants to purchase UAS or equipment or services for the detection, tracking or identification of drones and drone signals.¹

Section 7 directs executive agencies to "use all available existing authorities to employ equipment to detect, track, and identify drones and drone signals," "to the extent permitted by law and consistent with the Fourth Amendment." It orders revision within 30 days of the August 2020 advisory on the application of federal laws to drone detection, and gives the FAA 60 days to provide "automated real-time access to personal identifying information associated with UAS remote identification signals" to federal and state, local, tribal and territorial agencies, subject to the Privacy Act of 1974. Section 7(d) gives the Secretary of Homeland Security and the FAA Administrator 60 days to publish guidance for private critical infrastructure owners or operators "in employing technologies to detect, track, and identify drones and drone signals."¹

Section 8 directs the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General to submit a recommendation to the President within 90 days on whether "northern and southern land borders; large airports; Federal facilities; critical infrastructure; and military installations" should be designated as covered facilities or assets under 6 U.S.C. 124n and 10 U.S.C. 130i.¹

Section 9 directs the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to explore counter-UAS responses within Joint Terrorism Task Forces for mass gatherings, and directs implementation of the March 2022 feasibility report on a "National Training Center for Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems," with initial training focused on major sporting events, named in the order as the FIFA World Cup 2026 and the 2028 Summer Olympics.¹

Section 2209 and the rulemaking

Section 2209 was enacted on July 15, 2016 as part of the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016 (Public Law 114-190). It directed the Secretary of Transportation to "establish a process to allow applicants to petition the Administrator" to restrict unmanned aircraft operation near fixed site facilities "not later than 180 days after the date of enactment," a deadline of January 11, 2017. The eligible categories were critical infrastructure, oil refineries and chemical facilities, amusement parks, and "Other locations that warrant such restrictions."²

Section 369 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-254, approved October 5, 2018) added railroad facilities and a deadline for a notice of proposed rulemaking "Not later than March 31, 2019," with a final rule "Not later than 12 months after publishing the notice of proposed rulemaking."³ Section 929 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 (Public Law 118-63, approved May 16, 2024) replaced the "Other locations" category with State prisons, inserted ", including temporarily," after "restrict" in the restriction authority, and directed a notice of proposed rulemaking "Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment," a deadline of August 14, 2024, with a final rule "Not later than 16 months" after the proposal.⁴ Section 5(a) of the order refers to the rulemaking "required by section 2209(f)," the subsection added in 2024.¹

The statutory deadlines for the notice of proposed rulemaking were March 31, 2019 and August 14, 2024. The notice was published in the Federal Register on May 6, 2026.⁵

Proposed rule FAA-2026-4558

The FAA's notice of proposed rulemaking, "Designation, Restrict the Operation of Unmanned Aircraft in Close Proximity to a Fixed Site Facility," was published as Notice No. 26-03 under Docket FAA-2026-4558 and RIN 2120-AL33.⁵ It would create a new part 74 under which owners or proprietors of fixed site facilities could request a standard or special "unmanned aircraft flight restriction" (UAFR). The notice states that, "Consistent with Executive Order 14305, Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty," eligibility is limited to fixed site facilities meeting the definition of critical infrastructure in 42 U.S.C. 5195c(e).⁵ The FAA would make a final determination within 90 days after the comment period closes. The notice states that "approximately 125,000 fixed site facilities" in the sixteen critical infrastructure sectors "may be high priority for a UAFR," and that the FAA "could receive approximately 9,159 applications over 5 years."⁵⁶

The comment period was set to close July 6, 2026. On June 30, 2026 the FAA extended it to August 5, 2026 (91 FR 39568).⁷ The docket listed 1,669 comments when queried on October 14, 2026.⁸ Among the 18 supporting documents posted to the docket are a congressional letter from Chairman Graves and Ranking Member Larsen, posted May 6, 2026,⁹ and memoranda of meetings with the Correctional Leadership Association, the American Correctional Association and the Correctional Leaders, and an IT Sector Coordinating Council meeting.¹⁰ Other supporting documents are a memorandum for a meeting with IAAPA posted May 6, 2026, a second congressional letter from Senator Young and Senator Lummis posted the same day, a memorandum for a meeting with Disney posted September 3, 2026, and a document titled "NY OAG FAA Comment Extension Request re Drone Restrictions NPRM (6-24-2026)."¹¹ The docket also holds a draft of FAA Order JO 7400.12, posted July 1, 2026, and a June 17, 2026 meeting request from the Correctional Leadership Association regarding the section 2209 rule.¹²

The notice addresses counter-UAS authority in two places. It states: "For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in Part 74 constrains the exercise of federal counter-UAS authorities under 6 U.S.C. 124n, 10 U.S.C. 130i, 10 U.S.C. 6227, or 50 U.S.C. 3515a including the deployment or operation of unmanned aircraft systems for counter-UAS detection or mitigation purposes." It also states that facility operators "with separate statutory authority to deploy counter-UAS technologies may continue existing practices; however, this proposed rule does not grant or expand such authorities."⁵

On June 8, 2026 ELDAEON filed comment FAA-2026-4558-0285, signed by Jonathan Wagner. The comment states that "Eldaeon Inc. is registered with the U.S. Department of State's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) and is pursuing a Commodity Jurisdiction determination for our flagship system, Nemesis, under ITAR," and describes NEMESIS as "a non-emitting, non-cooperative drone detection platform." Under the heading "Expand Eligible Security Criteria (14 CFR 74.54)," it asks the FAA to "Explicitly recognize non-cooperative passive surveillance, such as passive radar, as an approved methodology for fulfilling the facility's "protective security measures" requirement."¹³ The company's July 2026 article "Earning a Protected Sky Under Section 2209" says that the NEMESIS systems give affected facilities "the means to legally enforce the rule at their sites," and describes section 2209 as "a congressional mandate, reinforced by Executive Order 14305."¹⁴ The California Secretary of State records the filing of ELDAEON's articles of incorporation on June 11, 2025, the day the order was published in the Federal Register.¹⁵

Counter-UAS authorities and the training center

The Departments of Justice and Homeland Security published an interim final rule on July 6, 2026 (91 FR 41466), effective July 1, 2026, with comments due September 4, 2026, implementing the SAFER SKIES Act. The statute, signed into law on December 18, 2025 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (Public Law 119-60), authorizes state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement and correctional agencies to conduct counter-unmanned aircraft system operations, largely codified in 6 U.S.C. 124n.¹⁶ The rule defines the National Counter-UAS Training Center (NCUTC) as "the national schoolhouse operated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation," and as "the sole certifying authority for SLTT C-UAS mitigation operators." It reports that the NCUTC "has certified 61 officers across approximately 46 SLTT agencies to date," and cites the order in a footnote.¹⁶

Section 9(b) of the order directs the Attorney General, in coordination with the Secretaries of Defense, Transportation and Homeland Security, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, to implement the recommendations of the March 2022 Feasibility Report to Congress on the "National Training Center for Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems."¹ A memorandum from the NCUTC dated September 24, 2025 states that the order "directed the creation of the FBI's National Counter-UAS Training Center, modeled after the FBI's Hazardous Devices School."¹⁷ The same memorandum announced a three-week course beginning in late October 2025 in Huntsville, Alabama, with an inaugural class of 12 officers from agencies in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and California, and stated that courses would then prioritize agencies in the World Cup host areas. It also stated that "certification does not confer authority to conduct counter-UAS operations unless and until Congress expands statutory authorities."¹⁷

The interim rule states that the Departments developed the rule in part to address unauthorized drone activity at the World Cup, which began June 11, 2026 and runs through July 19, 2026. It cites a June 12, 2026 memorandum to all federal prosecutors from Acting Attorney General Blanche titled "Charging Policy Concerning Defensive Actions Against Unmanned Aircraft Systems," and reports that the Federal Emergency Management Agency "noticed and awarded $250 million in Federal funding in FY 2026 to enhance SLTT agency capabilities to detect, identify, track, or monitor UAS" in anticipation of the World Cup.¹⁶

The 2024 New Jersey sightings

Reports of drones over New Jersey and the surrounding region in late 2024 were the public backdrop to the order's counter-UAS provisions. On December 17, 2024 the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense issued a joint statement saying that "FBI has received tips of more than 5,000 reported drone sightings in the last few weeks with approximately 100 leads generated." The statement assessed that the sightings "include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones." It continued: "We have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast." The statement ended by urging Congress to enact counter-UAS legislation.¹⁸

On December 12, 2024 John Kirby, the White House national security communications adviser, said at the White House press briefing: "We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat or have a foreign nexus." He continued: "To the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully." He added: "While there is no known malicious activity occurring, the reported sightings there do, however, highlight a gap in authorities. And so, we urge Congress to pass important legislation that will extend and expand existing counter-drone authorities."¹⁹

The rule states that the National Football League's chief security officer told Congress in December 2024 that unauthorized drone incursions over NFL games rose from roughly a dozen in the 2017 season to 2,537 in 2022 and 2,845 in 2023.¹⁶

Companion orders

Two other orders were signed on June 6, 2025 and published on June 11, 2025 in the same issue of the Federal Register. Executive Order 14304, "Leading the World in Supersonic Flight," at 90 FR 24717, directs the FAA Administrator to take steps "including through rulemaking, to repeal the prohibition on overland supersonic flight in 14 CFR 91.817 within 180 days of the date of this order" and, within 18 months, to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking on a noise certification standard.²⁰ The FAA published a proposed rule, "Enabling Supersonic Overland Flight," on July 2, 2026 at 91 FR 40470 (Docket FAA-2026-6935, comments due August 17, 2026), which states: "Consistent with national policy set forth by the Executive Order of June 6, 2025, Leading the World in Supersonic Flight, this action would enable the safe, efficient, and commercially viable operation of civil supersonic aircraft in the United States."²¹

Executive Order 14307, "Unleashing American Drone Dominance," at 90 FR 24727, directs the Secretary of Transportation, acting through the FAA, to issue within 30 days a proposed rule "enabling routine Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations for UAS for commercial and public safety purposes," with a final rule "within 240 days." Its other sections direct the establishment of an electric vertical takeoff and landing pilot program, the publication of a Covered Foreign Entity List by the Federal Acquisition Security Council, a Commerce review of export controls on civil UAS within 90 days, and Department of Defense measures on the Defense Innovation Unit Blue UAS List.²² The FAA published the BVLOS proposed rule, "Normalizing Unmanned Aircraft Systems Beyond Visual Line of Sight Operations," on August 7, 2025 at 90 FR 38212 (Docket FAA-2025-1908, comments due October 6, 2025), and denied requests to extend the comment period on September 29, 2025.²³ The eVTOL Integration Pilot Program was announced on September 16, 2025 at 90 FR 44751.²⁴ The Bureau of Industry and Security cited the order in an interim final rule easing export controls on certain civil UAVs, effective January 20, 2026 (91 FR 2467), and in a second rule effective August 13, 2026 that raised the national security control threshold for certain UAVs from an endurance of 30 minutes to 3 hours (91 FR 52501).²⁵

The FAA's proposed rule under docket FAA-2026-4558 cites both drone orders, describing its aim as balancing "E.O. 14305 Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty and E.O. 14307 Unleashing American Drone Dominance."⁵