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Executive Orders Historical Archive
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Executive Order 10485 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 10485—Providing for the Performance of Certain Functions Heretofore Performed by the President With Respect to Electric Power and Natural Gas Facilities Located on the Borders of the United States

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight D. Eisenhower
•
Thursday, September 3, 1953
•
3 min read (597 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (597 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The Federal Power Commission is hereby designated and empowered to perform the following described functions: (1) To receive all applications for permits for the construction, operation, maintenance, or connection, at the borders of the United States, of facilities for the transmission of electric energy between the United States and a foreign country.

View all 4 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Sovereign State Governments & Localities Private Citizens & Property Owners 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 September 3, 1953, this order concerns Providing for the Performance of Certain Functions Heretofore Performed by the President With Respect to Electric Power and Natural Gas Facilities Located on the Borders of the United States. The Federal Power Commission is hereby designated and empowered to perform the following described functions: (1) To receive all applications for permits for the construction, operation, maintenance, or connection, at the borders of the United States, of facilities for the transmission of electric energy between the United States and a foreign country.

Constitutional Assessment: Scrutinized through Article II, Section 2, this action exercises the President's constitutional role as Commander in Chief. Early Framers recognized broad executive discretion in commanding military forces during conflict, provided it remains bounded by congressional declarations and respects civilian domestic courts.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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The Federal Power Commission is hereby designated and empowered to perform the following described functions: (1) To receive all applications for permits for the construction, operation, maintenance, or connection, at the borders of the United States, of facilities for the transmission of electric energy between the United States and a foreign country.

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The Commission shall have the power to attach to the Issuance of the permit and to the exercise of the rights granted thereunder such conditions as the public interest may in its judgment require.

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In any case wherein the Federal Power Commission, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense cannot agree as to whether or not a permit should be issued, the Commission shall submit to the President for approval or disapproval the application for a permit with the respective views of the Commission, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense.

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The Chairman or Acting Chairman of the Federal Power Commission is hereby designated and empowered to sign any permits issued by the Federal Power Commission pursuant to section 1 (a) (3) hereof.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Energy & Environment 🏷️ National Security & Defense 🏷️ 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 2 (Zone of Twilight)
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"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)

Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.

Madisonian Stance: Vigilant / Cautionary
AH

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: Strong Prerogative Support
GM

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
48 / 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

Moderate Friction

The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.

Benchmark: Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
⚖️ 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%).
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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
597
3,579 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
18.4
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

WHEREAS section 202 (e) of the Federal Power Act, as amended, 49 Stat. 847 (16 U.S.C. 824a (e)), requires any person desiring to transmit any electric energy from the United States to a foreign country to obtain an order of the Federal Power Commission authorizing it to do so; and WHEREAS section 3 of the Natural Gas Act, 52 Stat. 822 (15 U.S.C. 717b), requires any person desiring to export any natural gas from the United States to a foreign country or to import any natural gas from a foreign country to the United States to obtain an order from the Federal Power Commission authorizing it to do so; and WHEREAS the proper conduct of the foreign relations of the United States requires that executive permission be obtained for the construction and maintenance at the borders of the United States of facilities for the exportation or importation of electric energy and natural gas; and WHEREAS it is desirable to provide a systematic method in connection with the issuance and signing of permits for such purposes:

NOW, THEREFORE, #now-therefore

by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the armed forces of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. (a) The Federal Power Commission is hereby designated and empowered to perform the following described functions: (1) To receive all applications for permits for the construction, operation, maintenance, or connection, at the borders of the United States, of facilities for the transmission of electric energy between the United States and a foreign country. (2) To receive all applications for permits for the construction, operation, maintenance, or connection, at the borders of the United States, of facilities for the exportation or importation of natural gas to or from a foreign country. (3) Upon finding the issuance of the permit to be consistent with the public interest, and, after obtaining the favorable recommendations of the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense thereon, to issue to the applicant, as appropriate, a permit for such construction, operation, maintenance, or connection. The Commission shall have the power to attach to the Issuance of the permit and to the exercise of the rights granted thereunder such conditions as the public interest may in its judgment require. (b) In any case wherein the Federal Power Commission, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense cannot agree as to whether or not a permit should be issued, the Commission shall submit to the President for approval or disapproval the application for a permit with the respective views of the Commission, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense. SEC. 2. The Chairman or Acting Chairman of the Federal Power Commission is hereby designated and empowered to sign any permits issued by the Federal Power Commission pursuant to section 1 (a) (3) hereof. SEC 3. The Federal Power Commission is authorized to issue such rules and regulations, and to prescribe such procedures, as it may from time to time deem necessary or desirable for the exercise of the authority delegated to it by this order. SEC. 4. All Presidential Permits heretofore issued pursuant to Executive Order No. 8202 of July 13, 1939, and in force at the time of the issuance of this order, and all permits issued hereunder, shall remain in full force and effect until modified or revoked by the President or by the Federal Power Commission. SEC 5. Executive Order No. 8202 of July 13, 1939, is hereby revoked. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

September 3, 1953.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (4)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

References Executive Order 13867—Issuance of Permits With Respect to Facilities and Land Transportation Crossings at the International Boundaries of the United States
Donald J. Trump (1st Term) • 2019-04-10
References Executive Order 13337—Issuance of Permits With Respect to Certain Energy-Related Facilities and Land Transportation Crossings on the International Boundaries of the United States
George W. Bush • 2004-04-30
Amends Executive Order 12038—Department of Energy
Jimmy Carter • 1978-02-03
References Executive Order 11423—Providing for the Performance of Certain Functions Heretofore Performed by the President With Respect to Certain Facilities Constructed and Maintained on the Borders of the United States
Lyndon B. Johnson • 1968-08-16
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 10,485 (Sept. 3, 1953), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10485-providing-for-the-performance-certain-functions-heretofore-performed.