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Executive Order 10473 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution

Executive Order 10473—Amendment of the Foreign Service Regulations Relating to United States Foreign Service Fees

Dwight D. Eisenhower

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Wednesday, July 22, 1953

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4 min read (738 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 4 min read (738 words) • ● In Effect

🎯 Primary Mandate

Section V-14 of the Foreign Service Regulations of the United States, prescribed by Executive Order No. 7968 of September 3, 1938 (3 CFR 1938 Supp., page 107), is hereby revoked. 2.

View all 4 directives ↓

⚖️ Constitutional Footing

🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority

Express or Implied Congressional Authorization

📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution

Framers' constitutional debate ↓

🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors

Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Foreign Nations & International Entities

Inspect unabridged text ↓

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

Signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on July 22, 1953, this order concerns Amendment of the Foreign Service Regulations Relating to United States Foreign Service Fees. Section V-14 of the Foreign Service Regulations of the United States, prescribed by Executive Order No. 7968 of September 3, 1938 (3 CFR 1938 Supp., page 107), is hereby revoked. 2. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of section V-15 of the Foreign Service Regulations of the United States (22 CFR 103.1), prescribed by the said Executive Order No. 7968, are amended to read as follows: "(a) All officers of the Foreign Service…

Constitutional Assessment: This action represents an orderly exercise of Article II administrative discretion, managing the internal machinery and personnel of the executive branch without abridging the ancient liberties of the people.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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Section V-14 of the Foreign Service Regulations of the United States, prescribed by Executive Order No. 7968 of September 3, 1938 (3 CFR 1938 Supp., page 107), is hereby revoked. 2.

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Paragraphs (a) and (b) of section V-15 of the Foreign Service Regulations of the United States (22 CFR 103.1), prescribed by the said Executive Order No. 7968, are amended to read as follows: "(a) All officers of the Foreign Service shall charge and collect for official services performed abroad such and only such fees as are prescribed by the President in the following Tariff of United States Foreign Service Fees, or as are prescribed by or pursuant to an act of Congress.

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All fees shall be collected in the coin of the United States or at its representative value in exchange.

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The term "American vessels" as used herein shall not include American undocumented vessels; and fees prescribed in the said Tariff shall be charged and collected for official services performed for such vessels." 3.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Immigration & Border Security 🏷️ Trade & Tariffs

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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority)

"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)

Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)

Alexander Hamilton

The Energetic Executive & Unified Command

"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)

Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.

Hamiltonian Stance: Supportive of Execution

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)

The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.

Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required

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Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions

An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone

41 / 100 friction index

Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.

Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Low Friction

Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.

Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

High Friction

Creates friction with the Tenth Amendment by conditioning state grants, mandating local compliance, or preempting state police powers.

Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.

Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments

Due Process & Individual Rights

Moderate Friction

Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.

Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.

Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization

⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.

Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).

ℹ️

How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.

Total Words

738

4,346 characters

Estimated Read Time

4 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

10.2

High School

Language Tone Score

+0.02

Constitutional Neutral

How is this scored?

Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by section 1745 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (22 U. S. C. 1201), it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. Section V-14 of the Foreign Service Regulations of the United States, prescribed by Executive Order No. 7968 of September 3, 1938 (3 CFR 1938 Supp., page 107), is hereby revoked. 2. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of section V-15 of the Foreign Service Regulations of the United States (22 CFR 103.1), prescribed by the said Executive Order No. 7968, are amended to read as follows: "(a) All officers of the Foreign Service shall charge and collect for official services performed abroad such and only such fees as are prescribed by the President in the following Tariff of United States Foreign Service Fees, or as are prescribed by or pursuant to an act of Congress. All fees shall be collected in the coin of the United States or at its representative value in exchange. (R. S. 1745, sec. 3, 34 Stat. 100, 22 U. S. C. 1201; R. S. 1746, 22 U. S. C. 1202.) "(b) No fees prescribed in the Tariff of United States Foreign Service Fees shall be charged or collected for official services performed by officers of the Foreign Service for American vessels and seamen. (Sec. 12, 23 Stat. 56, 22 U. S. C. 1186). The term "American vessels" as used herein shall not include American undocumented vessels; and fees prescribed in the said Tariff shall be charged and collected for official services performed for such vessels." 3. Paragraph (d) of section V-15 of the Foreign Service Regulations of the United States (22 CFR 103.1), prescribed by the said Executive Order No. 7968, is amended by substituting the citation "(R. S. 1731; 22 U. S. C. 1197.)" for the citation "(22 U. S. C. 101.)" appearing at the end of the paragraph. 4. The Tariff of United States Foreign Service Fees, prescribed by section V-15 of the Foreign Service Regulations of the United States (Executive Order No. 7968, as amended; 22 CFR 103.1), is amended as follows: (a) The exception to Item No. 3 is amended to read: Exception-- Certificates for insecticides (Forms DSP-31 and DSP-32)-------- No fee (b) Item No. 6 is amended as follows: (1) The following item is included immediately below the item "Issue of card or certificate of identity and registration": Issue of card of identification for use on the Mexican border (Form No. 225-B) -------- 1.00 (2) The following item is included immediately below the item "Execution of affidavit in regard to American birth in connection with application for registration or for passport": For a certified copy of executed form for repatriation of native-born American women under the act of June 25, 1936, c. 801, 49 Stat. 1917, as amended-------- 1.00 (3) The last item is amended, effective as of December 24, 1952, to read as follows: For a certified copy of executed form for repatriation of native- born American women under section 324 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 247)-------- 5.00 (c) Item No. 7 is amended, effective as of December 24, 1952, to read as follows: 7. Visa services for aliens. Fees prescribed by or pursuant to section 281 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 230-231) (d) Item No. 24 is amended as follows: (1) The first item under the word "Exceptions--" is revoked, effective as of December 24, 1952. (2) The following item is included immediately after the word "Exceptions": For administering the oath of allegiance under the act of June 25, 1936, c. 801, 49 Stat. 1917, as amended, to a native-born American woman who lost her citizenship solely by marriage to an alien-------- No fee (3) The last item appearing under the word "Exceptions" is amended, effective as of December 24, 1952, to read: For administering the oath of allegiance under the Immigration and Nationality Act to a native-born American woman who lost her citizenship solely by marriage to an alien and whose marriage is terminated (66 Stat. 247)-------- No fee (e) Item No. 45 is amended by substituting the words "in quadruplicate" for the words "in duplicate" appearing therein. 5. All prior Executive orders inconsistent herewith are amended accordingly. 6. Except as otherwise provided herein, this order shall become effective as of the date of its publication in the FEDERAL REGISTER. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

July 22, 1953.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 10,473 (July 22, 1953), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10473-amendment-the-foreign-service-regulations-relating-united-states.