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Executive Order 10857 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process

Executive Order 10857—Determining the Termination of Certain Federal Functions in Alaska and Delegating to the Secretary of the Interior the Authority of the President To Transfer to Alaska Property Owned or Held by the United States in Connection With Such Functions

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight D. Eisenhower
•
Tuesday, December 29, 1959
•
3 min read (561 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (561 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

It is hereby determined that the functions performed by the United States in Alaska pursuant to the Alaska game law of July 1, 1943, 57 Stat. 301, the act of June 26, 1906, 34 Stat. 478, the act of June 6, 1924, 43 Stat. 465, and the acts amending or supplementing such acts, will terminate on December 31, 1959, and that the same functions or substantially the same functions will be assumed by the State of Alaska.

View all 4 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Sovereign State Governments & Localities Private Citizens & Property Owners
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 December 29, 1959, this order concerns Determining the Termination of Certain Federal Functions in Alaska and Delegating to the Secretary of the Interior the Authority of the President To Transfer to Alaska Property Owned or Held by the United States in Connection With Such Functions. It is hereby determined that the functions performed by the United States in Alaska pursuant to the Alaska game law of July 1, 1943, 57 Stat. 301, the act of June 26, 1906, 34 Stat. 478, the act of June 6, 1924, 43 Stat. 465, and the acts amending or supplementing such acts, will terminate on December 31, 1959, and that the same functions or substantially the same functions will be assumed by the State of Alaska.

Constitutional Assessment: Evaluated against the Fifth Amendment, this action touches upon property or economic rights. An early statesman would insist upon strict adherence to due process of law and the constitutional guarantee that private holdings shall not be encumbered or taken for public purposes without just compensation and lawful process.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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It is hereby determined that the functions performed by the United States in Alaska pursuant to the Alaska game law of July 1, 1943, 57 Stat. 301, the act of June 26, 1906, 34 Stat. 478, the act of June 6, 1924, 43 Stat. 465, and the acts amending or supplementing such acts, will terminate on December 31, 1959, and that the same functions or substantially the same functions will be assumed by the State of Alaska.

▪

There is hereby delegated to the Secretary of the Interior, effective January 1, 1960, the authority vested in the President by section 45(a) of the Alaska Omnibus Act to transfer and convey to the State of Alaska, without reimbursement, any property or interest in property, real or personal, situated In Alaska which is owned or held by the United States in connection with the functions described in section 1 hereof.

▪

The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to redelegate to (1) the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife, (2) the Commissioner of Fish and Wildlife, (3) the Directors of the Bureaus of Commercial Fisheries and Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, and (4) the Regional Directors, Alaska Region, of the Bureaus of Commercial Fisheries and Sport Fisheries and Wildlife all or any part of the authority delegated to the Secretary of the Interior by section 2 hereof.

▪

All transfers and conveyances made under or pursuant to this order shall be made in accordance with such policies, conditions, and procedures as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Energy & Environment
🏛️

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)
§

"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

"A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government." — Federalist No. 70 (1788)

Hamilton would view this directive as the natural and indispensable functioning of administrative leadership. Without the power to coordinate agencies, manage personnel, and resolve operational ambiguities, the modern presidency would be reduced to an impotent figurehead.

Hamiltonian Stance: Defends Vigor & Dispatch
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The purse and the sword ought never to be in the same hands... nor the liberties of the citizen placed at the pleasure of a single magistrate." — Virginia Ratifying Convention (1788)

George Mason and the Anti-Federalists would sound a fierce warning. They feared that Article II would inevitably evolve into an elective monarchy. When an executive order impacts private rights, property, or civil liberties without individualized judicial process, Mason would see their darkest predictions verified.

Anti-Federalist Stance: High Bill of Rights Scrutiny
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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
30 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Low Friction

Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.

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

Moderate Friction

Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.

Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments

Due Process & Individual Rights

Low Friction

Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.

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%).
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
561
3,310 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
22.2
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document
📑Sections Outline (3 sections)
Sec. 1Sec. 2Sec. 4

WHEREAS section 6(e) of the act of July 7, 1958. 72 Stat. 339, as amended, provides that the administration and management of the fish and wildlife resources of Alaska shall be transferred to the State of Alaska on the first day of the first calendar year following the expiration of ninety calendar days after the Secretary of the Interior certifies to the Congress that the Alaska State Legislature has made adequate provision for the administration, management, and conservation of such resources in the broad national interest; and WHEREAS the Secretary of the Interior made such certification to the Congress on April 27, 1959; and WHEREAS section 45(a) of the Alaska Omnibus Act (73 Stat. 152) provides that if the President determines that any function performed by the Federal Government in Alaska has been terminated by the Federal Government and that performance of such function or substantially the same function has been or will be assumed by the State of Alaska, the President may, until July 1, 1964, in his discretion, transfer and convey to the State of Alaska, without reimbursement, any property or interest in property, real or personal, situated in Alaska which is owned or held by the United States in connection with such function; and WHEREAS it appears that it would be in the public interest to delegate to the Secretary of the Interior, to the extent hereinafter indicated, the authority vested in the President by section 45(a) of the Alaska Omnibus Act;

NOW, THEREFORE, #now-therefore

by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 45(a) of the Alaska Omnibus Act (73 Stat. 152) and section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code, and as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows:

Section 1. #sec-1

It is hereby determined that the functions performed by the United States in Alaska pursuant to the Alaska game law of July 1, 1943, 57 Stat. 301, the act of June 26, 1906, 34 Stat. 478, the act of June 6, 1924, 43 Stat. 465, and the acts amending or supplementing such acts, will terminate on December 31, 1959, and that the same functions or substantially the same functions will be assumed by the State of Alaska.

Sec. 2. #sec-2

There is hereby delegated to the Secretary of the Interior, effective January 1, 1960, the authority vested in the President by section 45(a) of the Alaska Omnibus Act to transfer and convey to the State of Alaska, without reimbursement, any property or interest in property, real or personal, situated In Alaska which is owned or held by the United States in connection with the functions described in section 1 hereof. Sec 3. The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to redelegate to (1) the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife, (2) the Commissioner of Fish and Wildlife, (3) the Directors of the Bureaus of Commercial Fisheries and Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, and (4) the Regional Directors, Alaska Region, of the Bureaus of Commercial Fisheries and Sport Fisheries and Wildlife all or any part of the authority delegated to the Secretary of the Interior by section 2 hereof.

Sec. 4. #sec-4

All transfers and conveyances made under or pursuant to this order shall be made in accordance with such policies, conditions, and procedures as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

December 29, 1959.

🔗

Referenced By Later Executive Orders (4)

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

References Executive Order 11230—Delegating Certain Functions of the President to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget
Lyndon B. Johnson • 1965-06-28
References Executive Order 11164—Amending Executive Order No. 10530, Relating to the Performance by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget of Certain Functions Vested in the President
Lyndon B. Johnson • 1964-08-01
References Executive Order 11144—Establishing the Temporary Alaska Claims Commission
Lyndon B. Johnson • 1964-03-05
References Executive Order 10889—Amendment of Executive Order 10530 Providing for the Performance of Certain Functions Vested in or Subject to the Approval of the President
Dwight D. Eisenhower • 1960-10-05
📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 10,857 (Dec. 29, 1959), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10857-determining-the-termination-certain-federal-functions-alaska-and.