President Trump issued an Executive Order on March 1, 2025, titled “Designating English as the Official Language of the United States.” The Executive Order states that English has been used as the national language since the nation’s founding, including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The Order goes on to state that designating English as the national language will promote a “unified and cohesive society,” allow citizens to freely exchange ideas in one shared language, create pathways for civic engagement, and ensure consistency in government operations. The Order also hints at a coming policy of encouraging newcomers to learn and adopt English in order to open doors economically and help with community engagement. Additionally, the Order “recognizes and celebrates the long tradition of multilingual American citizens who have learned English and passed it to their children for generations to come.”
Notably, federal agency heads are given authority to make their own decisions towards fulfilling each agency’s mission and providing government services efficiently. The Order specifically states, “[a]gency heads are not required to amend, remove, or otherwise stop production of documents, products, or other services prepared or offered in languages other than English.” This sentence indicates that, while English is designated the official language of the nation, federal agencies are free to continue offering documents and services in other languages. For example, the Internal Revenue Service maintains several documents in Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Vietnamese, Arabic, Urdu, and several other languages. The Social Security Administration similarly offers information and resources in numerous languages, as well as free interpreter services resources. Additionally, the Department of Veterans Affairs offers free interpreters and other language assistance to veterans and their family members. None of these services or similar services from other federal agencies are expected to change their current non-English language offerings.
Key Takeaways
- While English is designated the official language of the United States, federal agencies are expressly permitted to continue serving Americans using other languages and making services and documents available in other languages. Federal agencies already predominantly use English as the primary language, with availability of some documents and services in other languages. For this reason, the impact of this Executive Order is not expected to be substantial.
- Federal agencies may at a future date choose to only accept certain documents in English, but no agencies have declared a current intent to change operations.
- Immigrants may be encouraged to learn English as part of immigration processes, but no new policies or programs have been announced affecting immigrants to date.
