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Executive Order 11196 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 11196—Providing for the Performance by the Housing and Home Finance Administrator of Certain Functions Vested in or Subject to the Approval of the President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon B. Johnson
•
Tuesday, February 2, 1965
•
4 min read (768 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 4 min read (768 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The Housing and Home Finance Administrator is hereby designated and empowered to exercise, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, the following: (1) The authority vested in the President by Section 6(d) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, 50 Stat. 888 (42 U.S.C. 1406(d)), to approve the undertaking by the Public Housing Administration of any annual contribution, grant, or loan, or any contract for any annual contribution, grant, or loan, under that Act.

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 Sovereign State Governments & Localities 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 February 2, 1965, this order concerns Providing for the Performance by the Housing and Home Finance Administrator of Certain Functions Vested in or Subject to the Approval of the President. Section 1. The Housing and Home Finance Administrator is hereby designated and empowered to exercise, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, the following: (1) The authority vested in the President by Section 6(d) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, 50 Stat. 888 (42 U.S.C. 1406(d)), to approve the undertaking by the Public Housing Administration of any annual contribution…

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 Housing and Home Finance Administrator is hereby designated and empowered to exercise, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, the following: (1) The authority vested in the President by Section 6(d) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, 50 Stat. 888 (42 U.S.C. 1406(d)), to approve the undertaking by the Public Housing Administration of any annual contribution, grant, or loan, or any contract for any annual contribution, grant, or loan, under that Act.

▪

The authority vested in the President by Section 14 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, 50 Stat. 895 (42 U.S.C. 1414), to approve the amending or superseding of any contract for annual contributions or loans, or both, so that the going Federal rate on the basis of which such annual contributions or the interest rate on the loans, or both, respectively, are fixed shall mean the going Federal rate on the date of approval of the amending or superseding contract entered into by the Public Housing Administration.

▪

The authority vested in the President by Title II of the Act of June 28, 1940, ch. 440, 54 Stat. 681 (42 U.S.C. 1501-1505), to determine that housing administered or assisted by the Public Housing Administration under that Title is no longer needed to assure the availability of dwellings for persons engaged in national-defense activities: Provided, That determinations under this paragraph shall require the concurrence of the Secretary of Defense.

▪

The following are hereby superseded: (1) Part III of Executive Order No. 10530 of May 10, 1954.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Housing
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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
52 / 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

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

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
768
4,429 characters
Estimated Read Time
4 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
12.1
High School
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document
📑Sections Outline (4 sections)
Sec. 1Sec. 2Sec. 3Sec. 4

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 hereby ordered as follows—

Section 1. #sec-1

The Housing and Home Finance Administrator is hereby designated and empowered to exercise, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, the following: (1) The authority vested in the President by Section 6(d) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, 50 Stat. 888 (42 U.S.C. 1406(d)), to approve the undertaking by the Public Housing Administration of any annual contribution, grant, or loan, or any contract for any annual contribution, grant, or loan, under that Act. (2) The authority vested in the President by Section 14 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, 50 Stat. 895 (42 U.S.C. 1414), to approve the amending or superseding of any contract for annual contributions or loans, or both, so that the going Federal rate on the basis of which such annual contributions or the interest rate on the loans, or both, respectively, are fixed shall mean the going Federal rate on the date of approval of the amending or superseding contract entered into by the Public Housing Administration. (3) The authority vested in the Housing and Home Finance Administrator by Section 103(b) of the Housing Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 416 (42 U.S.C. 1453(b)), to contract, with the approval of the President, to make grants under Title I of that Act. (4) The authority vested in the President by Title II of the Act of June 28, 1940, ch. 440, 54 Stat. 681 (42 U.S.C. 1501-1505), to determine that housing administered or assisted by the Public Housing Administration under that Title is no longer needed to assure the availability of dwellings for persons engaged in national-defense activities: Provided, That determinations under this paragraph shall require the concurrence of the Secretary of Defense. (5) The authority vested in the President by Section 5 of the Act of June 29, 1936, ch. 860, 49 Stat. 2026, to approve the dedication by the Public Housing Commissioner of streets, alleys, and parks for public use, and the granting by the Commissioner of easements, in connection with any low-cost housing or slum-clearance project described in that Act. (6) The authority vested in the President by Section 57 of the Alaska Omnibus Act (added by Public Law 88-451 of August 19, 1964, 78 Stat. 507), (A) to make the grants to the State of Alaska provided for in that Section, (B) to approve a plan submitted by the State of Alaska for the implementation of the purpose of that Section, (C) to specify reports to be made by the agency designated by the State of Alaska in accordance with that Section and to prescribe the form of, and information to be contained in, such reports, and (D) to demand access to the records upon which such reports are based.

Sec. 2. #sec-2

The following are hereby superseded: (1) Part III of Executive Order No. 10530 of May 10, 1954. (2) Executive Order No. 10573 of October 26, 1954. (3) Executive Order No. 10852 of November 27, 1959. (4) So much of Executive Order No. 11184 of October 13,1964, as added paragraph (g) to Section 4 of Executive Order No. 10530 of May 10, 1954.

Sec. 3. #sec-3

(a) References in this Order to any statute or to any provision of any statute shall be deemed to include (1) to the extent not inappropriate, references thereto as amended from time to time, (2) in the cases of Sections 1(1), 1(2), 1(4), and 1(5) of this Order, references to Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1947 (61 Stat. 954), and (3) in the case of Section 1(5) of this Order, a reference to Executive Order No. 7732 of October 27, 1937. (b) Unless inappropriate, any reference in any Executive order to any Executive order which is superseded by this Order, or to any Executive order provision so superseded, shall hereafter be deemed to refer to this Order or to the provision of Section 1 hereof, if any, which corresponds to the superseded provision.

Sec. 4. #sec-4

All actions heretofore taken by the President or by his delegate in respect of the matters affected by Section 1 of this Order and in force at the time of the issuance of this Order 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 unless sooner terminated by operation of law. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House, February 2, 1965.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 11,196 (Feb. 2, 1965), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11196-providing-for-the-performance-the-housing-and-home-finance.