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Executive Order 11249 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process

Executive Order 11249—Amending Regulations Relating to the Safeguarding of Vessels, Harbors, Ports, and Waterfront Facilities of the United States

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon B. Johnson
•
Sunday, October 10, 1965
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3 min read (656 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (656 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

I hereby prescribe the following amendments of the regulations prescribed by Executive Order No. 10173 of October 18,1950, as amended by Executive Order No. 10277 of August 1,1951, and Executive Order No. 10352 of May 19,1952, which regulations constitute Part 6, Subchapter A, Chapter 1, Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations: 1.

View all 4 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
Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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 October 10, 1965, this order concerns Amending Regulations Relating to the Safeguarding of Vessels, Harbors, Ports, and Waterfront Facilities of the United States. I hereby prescribe the following amendments of the regulations prescribed by Executive Order No. 10173 of October 18,1950, as amended by Executive Order No. 10277 of August 1,1951, and Executive Order No. 10352 of May 19,1952, which regulations constitute Part 6, Subchapter A, Chapter 1, Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations: 1. Section 6.01-3 is amended to read as follows: § 6.01-3 Captain of the Port.

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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I hereby prescribe the following amendments of the regulations prescribed by Executive Order No. 10173 of October 18,1950, as amended by Executive Order No. 10277 of August 1,1951, and Executive Order No. 10352 of May 19,1952, which regulations constitute Part 6, Subchapter A, Chapter 1, Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations: 1.

▪

01-3 is amended to read as follows: § 6.01-3 Captain of the Port.

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"Captain of the Port" as used in this part, means the officer of the Coast Guard, under the command of a District Commander, so designated by the Commandant for the purpose of giving immediate direction to Coast Guard law enforcement activities within his assigned area.

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In addition, the District Commander shall be Captain of the Port with respect to remaining areas in his District not assigned to officers designated by the Commandant as Captain of the Port. 2.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Infrastructure & Transportation
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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
37 / 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

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

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

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
656
3,804 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
11.4
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. 6Sec. 6Sec. 6Sec. 6

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Act of August 9,1950,64 Stat. 427, which amended section 1 of title II of the Act of June 15,1917,40 Stat. 220 (50 U.S.C. 191), and as President of the United States, I hereby prescribe the following amendments of the regulations prescribed by Executive Order No. 10173 of October 18,1950, as amended by Executive Order No. 10277 of August 1,1951, and Executive Order No. 10352 of May 19,1952, which regulations constitute Part 6, Subchapter A, Chapter 1, Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations: 1.

Section 6. #sec-6

01-3 is amended to read as follows: § 6.01-3 Captain of the Port. "Captain of the Port" as used in this part, means the officer of the Coast Guard, under the command of a District Commander, so designated by the Commandant for the purpose of giving immediate direction to Coast Guard law enforcement activities within his assigned area. In addition, the District Commander shall be Captain of the Port with respect to remaining areas in his District not assigned to officers designated by the Commandant as Captain of the Port. 2.

Section 6. #sec-6-2

01-4 is amended to read as follows: § 6.01-4 Waterfront facility. "Waterfront facility" as used in this part, means all piers, wharves, docks, and similar structures to which vessels may be secured; areas of land, water, or land and water under and in immediate proximity to them; buildings on such structures or contiguous to them and equipment and materials on such structures or in such buildings. 3. A new section 6.01-5 is added to read as follows: § 6.01-5 Security zone. "Security zone" as used in this part, means all areas of land, water, or land and water, which are so designated by the Captain of the Port for such time as he deems necessary to prevent damage or injury to any vessel or waterfront facility, to safeguard ports, harbors, territories, or waters of the United States or to secure the observance of the rights and obligations of the United States. 4.

Section 6. #sec-6-3

04-5 is amended to read as follows: § 6.04-5 Preventing access of persons, articles or things to vessels, or waterfront facilities. The Captain of the Port may prevent any person, article, or thing from boarding or being taken or placed on board any vessel or entering or being taken into or upon or placed in or upon any waterfront facility whenever it appears to him that such action is necessary in order to secure such vessel from damage or injury or to prevent damage or injury to any vessel, or waterfront facility or waters of the United States, or to secure the observance of rights and obligations of the United States. 5. A new section 6.04-6 is added to read as follows: § 6.04-6 Establishing security zones; prohibitions with respect thereto. The Captain of a Port may establish security zones subject to the terms and conditions specified in § 6.01-5. No person or vessel shall enter a security zone without the permission of the Captain of the Port. No person shall board or take or place any article or thing on board any vessel in a security zone without the permission of the Captain of the Port. No person shall take or place any article or thing upon any waterfront facility in any such zone without such permission. 6.

Section 6. #sec-6-4

04-7 is amended to read as follows: § 6.04-7 Visitation, search, and removal. The Captain of the Port may cause to be inspected and searched at any time any vessel, waterfront facility, or security zone, or any person, article, or thing thereon or therein, within the jurisdiction of the United States, may place guards upon any such vessel, waterfront facility, or security zone and may remove therefrom any and all persons, articles, or things not specifically authorized by him to go or remain thereon or therein. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House October 10, 1965

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 11,249 (Oct. 10, 1965), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11249-amending-regulations-relating-the-safeguarding-vessels-harbors-ports.