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Executive Order 11177 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 11177—Providing for Certain Arrangements Under the Columbia River Treaty

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon B. Johnson
•
Wednesday, September 16, 1964
•
3 min read (645 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (645 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The Administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, Department of the Interior, and the Division Engineer, North Pacific Division, Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, are hereby designated as an entity under Article XIV of the Treaty, to be known as the United States Entity for the Columbia River Treaty (hereinafter referred to as the Entity).

View all 4 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Foreign Nations & International Entities
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 September 16, 1964, this order concerns Providing for Certain Arrangements Under the Columbia River Treaty. States Entity Section 101. Designation of Entity. The Administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, Department of the Interior, and the Division Engineer, North Pacific Division, Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, are hereby designated as an entity under Article XIV of the Treaty, to be known as the United States Entity for the Columbia River Treaty (hereinafter referred to as the Entity).

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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Designation of Entity

The Administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, Department of the Interior, and the Division Engineer, North Pacific Division, Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, are hereby designated as an entity under Article XIV of the Treaty, to be known as the United States Entity for the Columbia River Treaty (hereinafter referred to as the Entity).

▪
Functions of the Entity

The Entity shall have the functions set forth therefor in Article XIV, and in other provisions, of the Treaty.

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Departmental responsibilities

This order shall not affect (1) the respective responsibilities of the Department of the Army and the Department of the Interior for project operation and administration, (2) the respective responsibilities of the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Engineers for the supervision and direction of the Department of the Army and the Office of the Chief of Engineers, or (3) the responsibility of the Secretary of the Interior tor the supervision and direction of the Department of the Interior.

▪
Appointment of members of the Permanent Engineering Board

The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Army shall each appoint one person as a United States member of the Permanent Engineering Board established by Article XV of the Treaty.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Foreign Policy & Diplomacy 🏷️ National Security & Defense
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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

"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

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

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

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

Moderate Friction

Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.

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
645
4,026 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
16.2
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document
📑Sections Outline (8 sections)
Sec. 101: Designation of EntitySec. 102: Functions of the EntitySec. 103: Departmental responsibilitiesSec. 201Sec. 202: Alternate membersSec. 203: United States SectionSec. 204: Assistance to the United States SectionSec. 301: Reservation

WHEREAS the treaty between the United States and Canada relating to cooperative development of the water resources of the Columbia River Basin (signed at Washington, D.C., on January 17, 1961; Executive C, 87th Congress, 1st Session) has come into force; and WHEREAS Article XIV of such treaty (hereinafter referred to as the Treaty) provides for the designation of certain entities which are empowered and charged with the duty to formulate and carry out the operating arrangements necessary to implement the Treaty, and authorizes the United States of America to designate one or more of such entities; and WHEREAS Article XV of the Treaty authorizes the United States of America to appoint two members of the Permanent Engineering Board established by that Article:

NOW, THEREFORE, #now-therefore

by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Treaty and by the Constitution and statutes, and as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows: Part I. United States Entity

Section 101. #sec-101

Designation of Entity. The Administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, Department of the Interior, and the Division Engineer, North Pacific Division, Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, are hereby designated as an entity under Article XIV of the Treaty, to be known as the United States Entity for the Columbia River Treaty (hereinafter referred to as the Entity). The designated Administrator shall be the Chairman of the Entity.

Sec. 102. #sec-102

Functions of the Entity. The Entity shall have the functions set forth therefor in Article XIV, and in other provisions, of the Treaty.

Sec. 103. #sec-103

Departmental responsibilities. This order shall not affect (1) the respective responsibilities of the Department of the Army and the Department of the Interior for project operation and administration, (2) the respective responsibilities of the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Engineers for the supervision and direction of the Department of the Army and the Office of the Chief of Engineers, or (3) the responsibility of the Secretary of the Interior tor the supervision and direction of the Department of the Interior. Part II. United States Section, Permanent Engineering Board

Section 201. #sec-201

Appointment of members of the Permanent Engineering Board. (a) The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Army shall each appoint one person as a United States member of the Permanent Engineering Board established by Article XV of the Treaty. (b) Each such person shall be selected from among appropriately qualified individuals, who at the time of appointment may be, but need not necessarily be, officers or employees of the United States, and shall serve as a member of the Board during the pleasure of the appointing Secretary.

Sec. 202. #sec-202

Alternate members. In addition to the two members to be appointed under the provisions of Section 201 of this order, there shall be two alternate United States members of the Permanent Engineering Board. The provisions of Section 201 of this order shall apply to the selection, appointment, and service of the alternate members.

Sec. 203. #sec-203

United States Section. The members and alternate members appointed under the foregoing provisions of this Part shall compose the United States Section, Permanent Engineering Board, Columbia River Treaty, hereinafter referred to as the United States Section. The member appointed by the Secretary of the Army under Section 201(a) of this order shall be the Chairman of the United States Section.

Sec. 204. #sec-204

Assistance to the United States Section. With the consent of the respective heads thereof, departments and agencies of the Federal Government may, upon the request of the United States Section and to the extent not inconsistent with law, furnish assistance needed by the Section in connection with the performance of its functions. Part III. General

Section 301. #sec-301

Reservation. There is hereby reserved the right to modify or terminate any or all of the provisons of this order. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House, September 16, 1964.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

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

References Executive Order 12038—Department of Energy
Jimmy Carter • 1978-02-03
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 11,177 (Sept. 16, 1964), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11177-providing-for-certain-arrangements-under-the-columbia-river-treaty.