Banning Enhanced Interrogation Techniques

January 22, 2009

Executive Order 13491 revoked prior CIA interrogation authorities and required all U.S. government interrogations to comply with the Army Field Manual, effectively banning waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques. The order aligned executive practice with the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment and the Fifth Amendment due process clause. Constitutional concerns were minimal since the President was directing executive branch agencies within his Article II authority. The order was broadly supported across the political spectrum as restoring the rule of law, though some critics argued it unduly constrained intelligence gathering. The order represented executive self-restraint rather than executive overreach, making it constitutionally unremarkable from a separation-of-powers standpoint.