I hereby authorize the career-conditional appointment of William K. Harris to a competitive position in the Department of the Navy without compliance with the competitive provisions of the Civil Service Act and Rules.
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on August 20, 1958, this order concerns Authorizing the Appointment of William K. Harris to a Competitive Position Without Compliance With the Civil Service Act and Rules. I hereby authorize the career-conditional appointment of William K. Harris to a competitive position in the Department of the Navy without compliance with the competitive provisions of the Civil Service Act and Rules. This order is recommended by the Secretary of the Navy.
I hereby authorize the career-conditional appointment of William K. Harris to a competitive position in the Department of the Navy without compliance with the competitive provisions of the Civil Service Act and Rules.
Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
"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."
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.
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.
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.
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.
Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.
Confined strictly to internal federal jurisdiction, federal property, or direct military command.
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 2 of the Civil Service Act of January 16, 1883 (22 Stat. 403, 404), I hereby authorize the career-conditional appointment of William K. Harris to a competitive position in the Department of the Navy without compliance with the competitive provisions of the Civil Service Act and Rules. This order is recommended by the Secretary of the Navy. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
August 20, 1958.
Other executive actions signed by Dwight D. Eisenhower around this period.
The heads of the departments, agencies, and independent establishments of the executive branch of the Government shall take such action as may be practicable and consistent with law, in cooperation with State and local authorities concerned with the control of air pollution, to…
Dwight D. Eisenhower Except as to the provisions which read, The Secretary of the Navy shall establish a promotion zone in each grade for male officers in the line of the Navy not restricted in the performance of duty when he convenes a selection board under chapter 543 of this title to consider…
Dwight D. Eisenhower Except as to the provision which, as amended by section 201 (9) (A) of the act of August 21, 1957, 71 Stat. 383, reads, The Secretary of the Navy shall furnish the appropriate selection board convened under chapter 543 of this title with the number of officers, not restricted…
Dwight D. Eisenhower Section 2 of Executive Order No. 10758 of March 4, 1958 (23 F. R. 1589), entitled "Establishing a Career Executive Program within the Civil Service System," is hereby amended to read as follows: "SEC. 2. Career Executive Board.
Dwight D. Eisenhower Effective as of August 26, 1958, that Executive Order No. 10773 of July 1, 1958, be, and it is hereby, amended (1) by deleting the words "Defense and Civilian Mobilization", whenever used as part of the title of any officer or the name of any agency or body, and by inserting in…
Dwight D. Eisenhower There is hereby delegated to the Secretary of Defense the authority (relating to the prescribing of rules and regulations modifying the standards and requirements with respect to induction of persons into the armed forces) vested in the President by the last proviso of section…
Dwight D. Eisenhower Exec. Order No. 10,778 (Aug. 20, 1958), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10778-authorizing-the-appointment-william-k-harris-competitive-position.
