★
Executive Orders Historical Archive
🎲
Cite
Executive Order 11228 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service

Executive Order 11228—Providing for the Performance by the Civil Service Commission of Certain Functions Vested in or Subject to the Approval of the President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon B. Johnson
•
Monday, June 14, 1965
•
3 min read (626 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (626 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The United States Civil Service Commission 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 United States Civil Service Commission by Section 605 of the Federal Employees Pay Act of 1945, 59 Stat. 304 (5 U.S.C. 945), to issue, subject to the approval of the President, regulations necessary for the administration of certain provisions of that Act insofar as the Act affects officers and employees in or under the executive branch of the Government.

View all 4 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
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 June 14, 1965, this order concerns Providing for the Performance by the Civil Service Commission of Certain Functions Vested in or Subject to the Approval of the President. Section 1. The United States Civil Service Commission 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 United States Civil Service Commission by Section 605 of the Federal Employees Pay Act of 1945, 59 Stat. 304 (5 U.S.C. 945), to issue, subject to the approval of the President, regulations necessary…

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 United States Civil Service Commission 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 United States Civil Service Commission by Section 605 of the Federal Employees Pay Act of 1945, 59 Stat. 304 (5 U.S.C. 945), to issue, subject to the approval of the President, regulations necessary for the administration of certain provisions of that Act insofar as the Act affects officers and employees in or under the executive branch of the Government.

▪

The authority vested in the President by Section 203(f) of the Annual and Sick Leave Act of 1951, 65 Stat. 680 (5 U.S.C. 2062(f)), to prescribe regulations governing the granting of leave of absence as described in that Section.

▪

Except as to Presidential appointees, the authority vested in the President (A) by Section 204 of the Act of June 30,1932, 47 Stat. 404, to exempt from automatic separation from the service under that Section any person when, in his judgment, the public interest so requires, and (B) by Section 5(c) of the Civil Service Retirement Act, 70 Stat. 748 (5 U.S.C. 2255(c)), to exempt from automatic separation from the service under Section 5 of that Act any employee when, in his judgment, the public interest so requires.

▪

The Chairman of the United States Civil Service Commission is hereby designated and empowered to exercise, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, the authority vested in the President by Section 304(e) of the Government Employees' Incentive Awards Act, 68 Stat. 1113 (5 U.S.C. 2123(e)), to determine the activity primarily benefiting, or the various activities benefiting, from any suggestion, invention, superior accomplishment, or other personal effort of any civilian officer or employee of the Government which constitutes the basis of any Presidential award or honorary recognition made or granted under Section 304(b) of that Act (5 U.S.C. 2123(b)).

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Government Operations & Civil Service
🏛️

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
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%).
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
626
3,727 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
13
College Level
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document
📑Sections Outline (5 sections)
Sec. 1Sec. 2Sec. 3Sec. 4Sec. 5

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 United States Civil Service Commission 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 United States Civil Service Commission by Section 605 of the Federal Employees Pay Act of 1945, 59 Stat. 304 (5 U.S.C. 945), to issue, subject to the approval of the President, regulations necessary for the administration of certain provisions of that Act insofar as the Act affects officers and employees in or under the executive branch of the Government. (2) The authority vested in the President by Section 203(f) of the Annual and Sick Leave Act of 1951, 65 Stat. 680 (5 U.S.C. 2062(f)), to prescribe regulations governing the granting of leave of absence as described in that Section. (3) Except as to Presidential appointees, the authority vested in the President (A) by Section 204 of the Act of June 30,1932, 47 Stat. 404, to exempt from automatic separation from the service under that Section any person when, in his judgment, the public interest so requires, and (B) by Section 5(c) of the Civil Service Retirement Act, 70 Stat. 748 (5 U.S.C. 2255(c)), to exempt from automatic separation from the service under Section 5 of that Act any employee when, in his judgment, the public interest so requires.

Sec. 2. #sec-2

The Chairman of the United States Civil Service Commission is hereby designated and empowered to exercise, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, the authority vested in the President by Section 304(e) of the Government Employees' Incentive Awards Act, 68 Stat. 1113 (5 U.S.C. 2123(e)), to determine the activity primarily benefiting, or the various activities benefiting, from any suggestion, invention, superior accomplishment, or other personal effort of any civilian officer or employee of the Government which constitutes the basis of any Presidential award or honorary recognition made or granted under Section 304(b) of that Act (5 U.S.C. 2123(b)).

Sec. 3. #sec-3

The following are hereby superseded: (1) Part II of Executive Order No. 10530 of May 10, 1954. (2) Executive Order No. 10682 of October 22, 1956. (3) Section 5 of Executive Order No. 10800 of January 15, 1959. (4) Executive Order No. 10835 of August 21, 1959. (5) So much of Section 2 of Executive Order No. 10903 of January 9, 1961, as added paragraph (e) to Section 2 of Executive Order No. 10530 of May 10,1954.

Sec. 4. #sec-4

(a) Unless inappropriate, references in this Order to any statute or to any provision of any statute shall be deemed to include references thereto as amended from time to time. (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 or Section 2 of this Order, if any, which corresponds to the superseded provision.

Sec. 5. #sec-5

All actions heretofore taken by the President or by his delegates in respect of the matters affected by Sections 1 and 2 of this Order and in force at the time of the issuance of this Order, including any regulations prescribed or approved by the President or by his delegates in respect of 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 unless sooner terminated by operation of law. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House, June 14, 1965.

🔗

Referenced By Later Executive Orders (2)

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

References Executive Order 11619—Exemption of Rose A. Conway From Mandatory Retirement
Richard Nixon • 1971-09-22
References Executive Order 11257—Delegating to the Civil Service Commission Certain Authority Relating to Severance Pay Under the Federal Employees Salary Act of 1965
Lyndon B. Johnson • 1965-11-13
📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 11,228 (June 14, 1965), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11228-providing-for-the-performance-the-civil-service-commission-certain.