The administration can comment on any proposal by the F.C.C., an independent agency, but it does so sparingly, and it is rare for the president himself to speak out on a pending matter. In this case, his advisers said he felt that the issue merited his involvement because of the broad impact the changes could have on the cable market, one that touches many American households.

The F.C.C. proposal would allow subscribers to choose and buy the devices they use to view television programming, instead of leasing the boxes from their cable companies at an average annual cost of $231. The agency approved the plan in February, starting a 60-day comment period that closes in a week.

In comments submitted on Friday, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, part of the Commerce Department, urged the F.C.C. to take a “measured and balanced” approach to injecting competition into the set-top box market, including enabling alternative providers to provide their own user interfaces, as well as other features.

In a blog post, Jason Furman, the chairman of Mr. Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, and Jeffrey D. Zients, the director of the National Economic Council, called the set-top box rule the “mascot” for Mr. Obama’s new pro-competition executive order.

The president’s aides gave no examples of the kinds of rules Mr. Obama would like to see agencies propose in response to the executive order. Mr. Furman said White House officials had already notified the agencies of the coming call for recommendations, so some of the regulations were already underway.

The push announced on Friday is in line with Mr. Obama’s promise in his State of the Union address this year to find ways to help workers, small businesses and entrepreneurs. In a report issued on Friday, the Council of Economic Advisers said that competition was declining in many industries and argued that the decrease was having a harmful effect on consumers and workers.

Mr. Obama has acted several times to combat the trend, including signing legislation to unlock cellphones, which allows consumers to switch providers while keeping the same device.