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Executive Order 11152 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.33) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 11152—Establishing the President's Committee on Manpower

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Wednesday, April 15, 1964
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4 min read (797 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 4 min read (797 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

To assist in carrying out Federal functions under the Manpower Development and Training Act of 1962, as amended, the Committee (1) shall assist the Secretary of Labor, as requested by him, in assessing the Nation's current and prospective manpower requirements and supplies, including the direct and indirect effects of Federal programs, and in developing recommendations to deal with current and prospective manpower problems, and (2) shall advise the Secretary of Labor and other Federal officials, as appropriate, in developing improved methods and programs for appraising national manpower needs and resources.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners Foreign Nations & International Entities

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 April 15, 1964, this order concerns Establishing the President's Committee on Manpower. There is hereby established a President's Committee on Manpower (hereinafter referred to as the "Committee"). (b) The Committee shall be composed of the Secretary of Labor, who shall be the Chairman, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, the…

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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Functions of the Committee

To assist in carrying out Federal functions under the Manpower Development and Training Act of 1962, as amended, the Committee (1) shall assist the Secretary of Labor, as requested by him, in assessing the Nation's current and prospective manpower requirements and supplies, including the direct and indirect effects of Federal programs, and in developing recommendations to deal with current and prospective manpower problems, and (2) shall advise the Secretary of Labor and other Federal officials, as appropriate, in developing improved methods and programs for appraising national manpower needs and resources.

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Administrative arrangements

In consonance with the provisions of section 214 of the Act of May 3, 1945 (59 Stat. 134, 31 U.S.C. 691), and as may be necessary for effectuating the purposes of this order, (1) the Department of Labor shall provide administrative services and general staff support for the Committee, and (2) each Federal agency represented on the Committee (including the Department of Labor) shall furnish the Committee other necessary assistance in accordance with the said section 214.

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Construction

LYNDON B. JOHNSON Approved: The White House, April 15, 1964.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities 🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions
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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 1 (Maximum Authority)
§

"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)

Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
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
35 / 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

Moderate Friction

Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.

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

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️ 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
797
5,242 characters
Estimated Read Time
4 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
22.8
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.33
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

WHEREAS various Federal programs and activities have a significant impact on the demand, supply, development, and utilization of manpower for the Nation; and WHEREAS sound public policy requires an assessment of present and anticipated manpower resources and requirements of the Nation, including the direct and indirect impact of Federal policies, programs, and activities, and their interrelationship with other sectors of the economy; and WHEREAS the Manpower Development and Training Act of 1962, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2571 et seq.), requires the Federal Government to appraise the manpower requirements and resources of the Nation, and directs the President to report to the Congress each year on manpower requirements, resources, use, and training; and WHEREAS as provisions of Title I of that Act require the Secretary of Labor to report and make recommendations to the President on manpower requirements, resources, use, and training:

NOW, THEREFORE, #now-therefore

by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows:

Section 1. #sec-1

Establishment of the Committee. (a) There is hereby established a President's Committee on Manpower (hereinafter referred to as the "Committee"). (b) The Committee shall be composed of the Secretary of Labor, who shall be the Chairman, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, the Director of the National Science Foundation, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, the Director of Selective Service, and such other heads of Federal agencies as the President may designate. (c) The Chairman may invite the head of any other Federal agency to participate in meetings of the Committee when matters of substantial interest to such agency head are to be considered by the Committee. (d) The Director of the Bureau of the Budget, the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, the Director of the Office of Emergency Planning, and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology may each designate a member of his staff to attend meetings of the Committee as an observer.

Sec. 2. #sec-2

Functions of the Committee. (a) To assist in carrying out Federal functions under the Manpower Development and Training Act of 1962, as amended, the Committee (1) shall assist the Secretary of Labor, as requested by him, in assessing the Nation's current and prospective manpower requirements and supplies, including the direct and indirect effects of Federal programs, and in developing recommendations to deal with current and prospective manpower problems, and (2) shall advise the Secretary of Labor and other Federal officials, as appropriate, in developing improved methods and programs for appraising national manpower needs and resources. (b) In carrying out these functions the Committee shall: (1) Evaluate and, where appropriate, recommend improvements in methods and programs for assessing (i) present and anticipated manpower resources and requirements of the Nation, and (ii) in particular, the present and anticipated direct and indirect impact of Federal programs and activities on the Nation's manpower. (2) Evaluate and make recommendations for the coordination within the Government of information, projections, research, and action programs concerned with measuring and projecting manpower needs and supplies. (3) Make recommendations to appropriate Federal officials concerning procedures for obtaining consistency among projections of national manpower resources and requirements, and consult with the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers with a view to obtaining consistency between the Government's manpower projections and estimates of current and foreseeable trends in the levels of employment, production, and purchasing power made pursuant to section 3(a) of the Employment Act of 1946 (15 U.S.C. 1022(a)). (4) Make recommendations to appropriate officials concerning (i) information needed from Federal agencies in order to carry out the purposes of this order, (ii) the desirable form and manner of reporting such information, and (iii) the techniques and guidelines to be used in developing information and preparing such reports as may be prescribed by appropriate authority in order to obtain consistency among agency reports.

Sec. 3. #sec-3

Administrative arrangements. In consonance with the provisions of section 214 of the Act of May 3, 1945 (59 Stat. 134, 31 U.S.C. 691), and as may be necessary for effectuating the purposes of this order, (1) the Department of Labor shall provide administrative services and general staff support for the Committee, and (2) each Federal agency represented on the Committee (including the Department of Labor) shall furnish the Committee other necessary assistance in accordance with the said section 214.

Sec. 4. #sec-4

Construction. Nothing in this order shall be construed to abrogate, modify, or restrict any function vested by law in, or assigned pursuant to law to, any Federal agency or any officer thereof. LYNDON B. JOHNSON Approved: The White House, April 15, 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. 11,152 (Apr. 15, 1964), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11152-establishing-the-presidents-committee-manpower.