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Executive Order 11137 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 11137—Relating to Certain Allowances and Benefits for Civilian Employees of Nonappropriated Fund Instrumentalities of the Armed Forces

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Tuesday, January 7, 1964
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4 min read (742 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 4 min read (742 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The term "employee", as denned in Section 111(3) of the Overseas Differentials and Allowances Act (5 U.S.C. 3032(3)), is hereby further defined as including civilian employees, compensated from nonappropriated funds, of the instrumentalities of the United States under the jurisdiction of the armed forces covered by Section 1 of the Act of June 19,1952, ch. 444 (5 U.S.C. 150k).

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Foreign Nations & International Entities Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

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

Signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on January 7, 1964, this order concerns Relating to Certain Allowances and Benefits for Civilian Employees of Nonappropriated Fund Instrumentalities of the Armed Forces. And Differentials In Foreign Areas Section 101. The term "employee", as denned in Section 111(3) of the Overseas Differentials and Allowances Act (5 U.S.C. 3032(3)), is hereby further defined as including civilian employees, compensated from nonappropriated funds, of the instrumentalities of the United States under the jurisdiction of the armed forces covered by Section 1 of the Act of June 19,1952, ch. 444 (5…

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 term "employee", as denned in Section 111(3) of the Overseas Differentials and Allowances Act (5 U.S.C. 3032(3)), is hereby further defined as including civilian employees, compensated from nonappropriated funds, of the instrumentalities of the United States under the jurisdiction of the armed forces covered by Section 1 of the Act of June 19,1952, ch. 444 (5 U.S.C. 150k).

▪

The Secretary of each military department with respect to his department, and the Secretary of the Treasury with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, are hereby designated and empowered to exercise, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, the authority vested in the President by Section 203 of the Overseas Differentials and Allowances Act (5 U.S.C. 3035) to prescribe regulations governing payments of allowances and differentials in foreign areas to the extent that the said authority is in respect of employees referred to in Section 101 of this order whose rates of basic compensation from nonappropriated funds are fixed in accordance with regulations prescribed by the…

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Regulations prescribed under authority delegated by the provisions of Section 102 hereof: (a) Shall, so far as practicable, be uniform.

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In the case of regulations prescribed by the Secretaries of the military departments, shall require the approval of the Secretary of Defense.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
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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
47 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

High Friction

Touches upon core congressional prerogatives: raises appropriations reallocation, tariff imposition, or statutory preemption questions.

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%).
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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
742
4,604 characters
Estimated Read Time
4 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
16.4
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code and by the various provisions of law cited in the body of this order, and as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows: Part I—Allowances And Differentials In Foreign Areas

Section 101. #sec-101

The term "employee", as denned in Section 111(3) of the Overseas Differentials and Allowances Act (5 U.S.C. 3032(3)), is hereby further defined as including civilian employees, compensated from nonappropriated funds, of the instrumentalities of the United States under the jurisdiction of the armed forces covered by Section 1 of the Act of June 19,1952, ch. 444 (5 U.S.C. 150k).

Sec. 102. #sec-102

The Secretary of each military department with respect to his department, and the Secretary of the Treasury with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, are hereby designated and empowered to exercise, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, the authority vested in the President by Section 203 of the Overseas Differentials and Allowances Act (5 U.S.C. 3035) to prescribe regulations governing payments of allowances and differentials in foreign areas to the extent that the said authority is in respect of employees referred to in Section 101 of this order whose rates of basic compensation from nonappropriated funds are fixed in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned.

Sec. 103. #sec-103

Regulations prescribed under authority delegated by the provisions of Section 102 hereof: (a) Shall, so far as practicable, be uniform. (b) In the case of regulations prescribed by the Secretaries of the military departments, shall require the approval of the Secretary of Defense. (c) Shall not, with respect to any locality, authorize allowances or differentials which exceed those prescribed under Executive Order No. 10903 of January 9, 1961, for other employees of the United States in the same locality.

Sec. 104. #sec-104

Executive Order No. 10903 of January 9, 1961, is hereby modified to the extent of the definition and the delegations of authority contained in Sections 101 and 102 hereof. Part II—Cost Op Living Allowances In Certain Nonforeign Areas

Sec. 201. #sec-201

The Secretary of Defense with respect to the military departments, and the Secretary of the Treasury with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, are hereby designated and empowered to exercise, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, the authority vested in the President by paragraph (2) of Section 912 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended (26 U.S.C. 912(2)), to approve the regulations there contemplated to the extent that the said regulations are in respect of the payment of cost-of-living allowances to employees, compensated from nonappropriated funds, of instrumentalities of the United States under the jurisdiction of the armed forces covered by Section 1 of the Act of June 19, 1952, ch. 444 (5 U.S.C. 150k), who are stationed outside the continental United States or in Alaska.

Sec. 202. #sec-202

Regulations approved under authority delegated by the provisions of Section 201 hereof: (a) Shall, so far as practicable, be uniform. (b) Shall not apply to employees who are stationed in either the Canal Zone or in any "foreign area" as defined in Section 111(6) of the Overseas Differentials and Allowances Act (5 U.S.C. 3032(6)). (c) Shall be limited to employees whose rates of basic compensation are fixed in conformity with rates paid by the Government for work of a comparable level of difficulty and responsibility to employees stationed in the continental United States exclusive of Alaska. (d) Shall not, with respect to any locality, authorize allowances which exceed those prescribed under Executive Order No. 10000 of September 16, 1948, as amended, for other employees of the United States in the same locality. Part III—General Provisions

Sec. 301. #sec-301

All actions heretofore taken by the President or his delegate with respect to the matters affected by this order, and in effect at the time of the issuance of this order, including any regulations prescribed or approved by the President or his delegate with respect to such matters, shall, except as they are inconsistent with the provisions of this order, remain in effect until amended, modified, or revoked pursuant to appropriate authority.

Sec. 302. #sec-302

This order, and the regulations prescribed or approved under the authority thereof, shall be published in the Federal Register. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House, January 7, 1964.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

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

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 11,137 (Jan. 7, 1964), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11137-relating-certain-allowances-and-benefits-for-civilian-employees.