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Executive Order 11144 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process

Executive Order 11144—Establishing the Temporary Alaska Claims Commission

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon B. Johnson
•
Thursday, March 5, 1964
•
3 min read (668 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (668 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

With respect to certain property which was on December 31,1959, owned or held oy the United States and controlled by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior or its subdivisions as listed on the attachment hereof headed "SCHEDULE OF PROPERTY", the Commission the Commission shall consider, ascertain, adjust, determine, and settle the dispute which has arisen between the United States and the State of Alaska concerning the transfer, conveyance, or other disposal to the State of Alaska of the said property.

View all 3 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
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 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 Lyndon B. Johnson on March 5, 1964, this order concerns Establishing the Temporary Alaska Claims Commission. There is hereby established a commission which shall be known as the Temporary Alaska Claims Commission (hereinafter referred to as the Commission). (b) The Commission shall be composed of three persons, each of whom shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, from among persons who are not officers or employees of either the United States or 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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Functions of the Commission

With respect to certain property which was on December 31,1959, owned or held oy the United States and controlled by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior or its subdivisions as listed on the attachment hereof headed "SCHEDULE OF PROPERTY", the Commission the Commission shall consider, ascertain, adjust, determine, and settle the dispute which has arisen between the United States and the State of Alaska concerning the transfer, conveyance, or other disposal to the State of Alaska of the said property.

▪
Transfer of property

To the extent necessitated by settlements made by the Commission in respect of the property listed on the hereto attached "SCHEDULE OF PROPERTY", the Secretary of the Interior, under the authority of subsection (e) of Section 6 of the Act of July 7, 1958, or under the authority of subsection (a) of Section 45 of the Alaska Omnibus Act as affected by Section 2 of Executive Order No. 10857 of December 29, 1959, as the case may be, shall transfer, convey, or otherwise dispose of the said property to the State of Alaska.

▪
Termination of Commission

The Commission shall terminate 60 days after the date of the delivery of its report to the Secretary of the Interior under the provisions of subsection (b) of Section 2 of this order or upon such earlier or later date as the President shall hereafter specify.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Energy & Environment
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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)
§

"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
38 / 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

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
668
3,982 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
17.7
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document
📑Sections Outline (4 sections)
Sec. 1: The CommissionSec. 2: Functions of the CommissionSec. 3: Transfer of propertySec. 4: Termination of Commission

WHEREAS subsection (a) of Section 46 of the Alaska Omnibus Act provides, in part, as follows: In the event that any disputes arise between the United States and the State of Alaska prior to January 1, 1965, concerning the transfer, conveyance, or other disposal of property to the State of Alaska pursuant to section 6(e) of the Act of July 7, 1958 (72 Stat. 339, 340), providing for the admission of the State of Alaska into the Union, or pursuant to this Act, the President is authorized (1) to appoint by and with the advice and consent of the Senate a temporary commission of three persons, to consider, ascertain, adjust, determine, and settle such disputes, and (2) to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary to establish such temporary commission or as may be necessary to terminate such temporary commission at the conclusion of its duties; WHEREAS agreement has been reached on the transfer of substantial amounts of property from the Federal Government to the State of Alaska; WHEREAS a dispute as described in the above-quoted statutory provision has arisen with respect to certain listed properties; WHEREAS the Governor of the State of Alaska has formally requested that the President appoint a commission as provided in that statutory provision; and WHEREAS I deem the establishment of such a commission to be in the public interest:

NOW, THEREFORE, #now-therefore

by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Alaska Omnibus Act (P.L. 86-70, approved June 25, 1959; 73 Stat. 141 et seq.), and as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows:

Section 1. #sec-1

The Commission. (a) There is hereby established a commission which shall be known as the Temporary Alaska Claims Commission (hereinafter referred to as the Commission). (b) The Commission shall be composed of three persons, each of whom shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, from among persons who are not officers or employees of either the United States or the State of Alaska. The President shall from time to time designate one of the persons composing the Commission to be the chairman thereof. (c) The General Services Administration is hereby designated as the agency which shall provide administrative services for the Commission on a reimbursable basis.

Sec. 2. #sec-2

Functions of the Commission. (a) With respect to certain property which was on December 31,1959, owned or held oy the United States and controlled by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior or its subdivisions as listed on the attachment hereof headed "SCHEDULE OF PROPERTY", the Commission the Commission shall consider, ascertain, adjust, determine, and settle the dispute which has arisen between the United States and the State of Alaska concerning the transfer, conveyance, or other disposal to the State of Alaska of the said property. The attached "SCHEDULE OF PROPERTY", mentioned above, is hereby made a part of this order. (b) The Commission shall timely report to the Secretary of the Interior its settlements with respect to the said listed property.

Sec. 3. #sec-3

Transfer of property. To the extent necessitated by settlements made by the Commission in respect of the property listed on the hereto attached "SCHEDULE OF PROPERTY", the Secretary of the Interior, under the authority of subsection (e) of Section 6 of the Act of July 7, 1958, or under the authority of subsection (a) of Section 45 of the Alaska Omnibus Act as affected by Section 2 of Executive Order No. 10857 of December 29, 1959, as the case may be, shall transfer, convey, or otherwise dispose of the said property to the State of Alaska.

Sec. 4. #sec-4

Termination of Commission. The Commission shall terminate 60 days after the date of the delivery of its report to the Secretary of the Interior under the provisions of subsection (b) of Section 2 of this order or upon such earlier or later date as the President shall hereafter specify. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House, March 5, 1964.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 11,144 (Mar. 5, 1964), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11144-establishing-the-temporary-alaska-claims-commission.