★
Executive Orders Historical Archive
Cite
Executive Order 11140 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations

Executive Order 11140—Delegating Certain Functions of the President Relating to the Public Health Service

•
Thursday, January 30, 1964
•
3 min read (690 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (690 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare is hereby authorized and empowered, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, to perform the following-described functions vested in the President under the Public Health Service Act (58 Stat. 682), as amended: (a) The authority under Section 203 (42 U.S.C. 204) to appoint commissioned officers of the Reserve Corps.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners Public Health & Medical Institutions

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 30, 1964, this order concerns Delegating Certain Functions of the President Relating to the Public Health Service. The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare is hereby authorized and empowered, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, to perform the following-described functions vested in the President under the Public Health Service Act (58 Stat. 682), as amended: (a) The authority under Section 203 (42 U.S.C. 204) to appoint commissioned officers of the Reserve Corps.

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

▪

The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare is hereby authorized and empowered, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, to perform the following-described functions vested in the President under the Public Health Service Act (58 Stat. 682), as amended: (a) The authority under Section 203 (42 U.S.C. 204) to appoint commissioned officers of the Reserve Corps.

▪

The authority under Section 206(b) (42 U.S.C. 207(b)) to prescribe titles, appropriate to the several grades, for commissioned officers of the Public Health Service other than medical officers.

▪

The authority under Section 207(a) (2) (42 U.S.C. 209(a) (2)) to terminate commissions of officers of the Reserve Corps without the consent of the officers concerned.

▪

The authority under Section 210(a), (k), and (1) (42 U.S.C. 211(a), (k), and (1) to make or terminate temporary promotions of commissioned officers of the Regular Corps and Reserve Corps.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions
🏛️

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 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
📐

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
53 / 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

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

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
690
4,348 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
13.2
College Level
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document
📑Sections Outline (7 sections)

By virtue of the authority vested in me by 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

The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare is hereby authorized and empowered, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, to perform the following-described functions vested in the President under the Public Health Service Act (58 Stat. 682), as amended: (a) The authority under Section 203 (42 U.S.C. 204) to appoint commissioned officers of the Reserve Corps. (b) The authority under Section 206(b) (42 U.S.C. 207(b)) to prescribe titles, appropriate to the several grades, for commissioned officers of the Public Health Service other than medical officers. (c) The authority under Section 207(a) (2) (42 U.S.C. 209(a) (2)) to terminate commissions of officers of the Reserve Corps without the consent of the officers concerned. (d) The authority under Section 210(a), (k), and (1) (42 U.S.C. 211(a), (k), and (1) to make or terminate temporary promotions of commissioned officers of the Regular Corps and Reserve Corps. (e) The authority under Section 211 (a) (5) (42 U.S.C. 212(a) (5)) to approve voluntary retirements under that section. (f) The authority to prescribe regulations under the following designated Sections: 207(a), 207(b), 208(e), 210(a), 210(b), 210(d) (1), 210(h), 210(i), 210(j) (1), 210(k), 215(a), 218(a), 219(a), and 510 (42 U.S.C. 209(a), 209(b), 210(e), 211(a), 211(b), 211(d)(1), 211(h), 211(i), 211(j)(l), 211(k), 216(a), 218a(a), 210-l(a), and 228). (g) The authority under Sections 321(a) and 364(a) (42 U.S.C. 248(a) and 267(a)) to approve the selection of suitable sites for and the establishment of additional institutions, hospitals, stations, grounds, and anchorages; subject, however, to the approval of the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, except as he may otherwise provide.

Sec. 2. #sec-2

The Surgeon General is hereby authorized and empowered, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, to perform the function vested in the President by Sections 203 and 207 (a)(2) of the Public Health Service Act (58 Stat. 683, 685), as amended (42 U.S.C. 204 and 209(a) (2)), or otherwise, of accepting voluntary resignations of commissioned officers of the Regular Corps or the Reserve Corps.

Sec. 3. #sec-3

The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare is hereby authorized and empowered, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, to exercise the authority vested in the President by Section 704 of Title 37 of the United States Code to prescribe regulations.

Sec. 4. #sec-4

The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare is hereby authorized to redelegate all or any part of the functions set forth under (a), (b), (c), and (d) of Section 1 hereof to the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service or other official of that Service who is required to be appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Sec. 5. #sec-5

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

Sec. 6. #sec-6

As used in this order, the term "functions" embraces duties, powers, responsibilities, authority, or discretion, and the term "perform" may De construed to mean "exercise".

Sec. 7. #sec-7

(a) Executive Order No. 10506 of December 10, 1953, entitled "Delegating Certain Functions of the President under the Public Health Service Act," is hereby superseded. (b) Executive Orders Nos. 9993 of August 31,1948,10031 of January 26, 1949, 10280 of August 16, 1951, 10354 of May 26, 1952, and 10497 of October 27, 1953, which prescribed regulations relating to commissioned officers and employees of the Public Health Service, are hereby revoked. Nothing in this subsection shall be deemed to alter or otherwise affect the regulations prescribed by the Surgeon General (42 CFR Parts 21 and 22) to replace the regulations prescribed by the orders described in the preceding sentence. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House, January 30, 1964.

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 11,140 (Jan. 30, 1964), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11140-delegating-certain-functions-the-president-relating-the-public.