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Executive Order 11264 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 11264—The Board of the Foreign Service and the Board of Examiners for the Foreign Service

Lyndon B. Johnson

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Friday, December 31, 1965

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6 min read (1,211 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 6 min read (1,211 words) • ● In Effect

🎯 Primary Mandate

Except to the extent inconsistent with Sections 22(a) and 32(a) of this Order, all the functions which were transferred to the President by Sections 1 (c) and 1 (d) of Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1965 are hereby delegated to the Secretary of State, hereinafter referred to as the Secretary.

View all 4 directives ↓

⚖️ Constitutional Footing

🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority

Express or Implied Congressional Authorization

📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Framers' constitutional debate ↓

🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors

Sovereign State Governments & Localities 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 December 31, 1965, this order concerns The Board of the Foreign Service and the Board of Examiners for the Foreign Service. Delegation of functions. Except to the extent inconsistent with Sections 22(a) and 32(a) of this Order, all the functions which were transferred to the President by Sections 1 (c) and 1 (d) of Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1965 are hereby delegated to the Secretary of State, hereinafter referred to as the Secretary. SEC. 2. Redelegation.

Constitutional Assessment: Reviewed under the Tenth Amendment and the principle of dual federalism, this order touches upon domains traditionally reserved to the sovereign States. The Framers would caution against any attempt to commandeer state officers or displace local police powers through federal executive fiat.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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The Secretary may redelegate the functions delegated to him by the provisions of Section 1 of this Order to officials or bodies of the Department of State.

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There is hereby established in the Department of State the Board of the Foreign Service, hereafter in this Part referred to as the Board.

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The Board shall be composed of: (1) Five officials of the Department of State, each of whom shall be designated as a member of the Board by the Secretary and one of whom shall be so designated from among the officials of the Agency for International Development.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Government Operations & Civil Service 🏷️ Foreign Policy & Diplomacy

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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

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)

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: Supportive of Execution

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." — 10th Amendment to the US Constitution (1791)

Mason would scrutinize whether this federal directive intrudes into police powers, land stewardship, or municipal domains historically reserved to local citizens. The Anti-Federalist demand is that federal administration must never supplant state self-governance.

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

39 / 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

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

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%).

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

1,211

7,157 characters

Estimated Read Time

6 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

12.7

High School

Language Tone Score

+0.02

Constitutional Neutral

How is this scored?

Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of the authority vested in me by Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1965 (30 F.R. 9353), and as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows: PART I. SECRETARY OF STATE SECTION 1. Delegation of functions. Except to the extent inconsistent with Sections 22(a) and 32(a) of this Order, all the functions which were transferred to the President by Sections 1 (c) and 1 (d) of Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1965 are hereby delegated to the Secretary of State, hereinafter referred to as the Secretary. SEC. 2. Redelegation. The Secretary may redelegate the functions delegated to him by the provisions of Section 1 of this Order to officials or bodies of the Department of State. PART II. BOARD OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE SEC. 21. Establishment of Board. (a) There is hereby established in the Department of State the Board of the Foreign Service, hereafter in this Part referred to as the Board. (b) The Board shall be composed of: (1) Five officials of the Department of State, each of whom shall be designated as a member of the Board by the Secretary and one of whom shall be so designated from among the officials of the Agency for International Development. (2) One official of each of the following who in each case shall be designated as a member of the Board by the head of the department or agency concerned: (i) The Department of Commerce (ii) The Department of Labor (iii) The United States Information Agency (iv) Such other executive departments and agencies as shall be designated from time to time by the Secretary, each of which shall have one member on the Board. (3) The Chairman of the United States Civil Service Commission. (c) The Secretary may invite the head of any executive department or other agency which is not represented on the Board by a member of the Board to designate a representative to participate in meetings of the Board whenever matters of substantial interest to such department or agency are to be considered by the Board. (d) Each member designated pursuant to subsection (b) (1) or (b) (2), above, and each representative designated pursuant to subsection (c), above, shall be chosen from among the officials of the department or agency concerned who are not below the rank of an Assistant Secretary or who are occupying positions of comparable responsibility, except that the Secretary may designate the Director General of the Foreign Service as one of the members under subsection (b) (1), above. (e) The Secretary shall from time to time designate a member of the Board as the chairman of the Board. SEC. 22. Functions of the Board. (a) There are hereby delegated to the Board the functions which prior to the taking effect of Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1965 were vested in the Board of the Foreign Service abolished by that plan by Section 211(b) of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 (22 U.S.C. 826 (b)), exclusive of that part thereof which follows the last semicolon in the Section, and by Section 637(a) of that Act (22 U.S.C. 1007(a)). (b) The Board shall perform such additional functions as the Secretary may from time to time delegate or otherwise assign thereto. PART III. BOARD OF EXAMINERS FOR THE FOREIGN SERVICE SEC. 31. Establishment of Board. (a) There is hereby established in the Department of State the Board of Examiners for the Foreign Service, hereinafter referred to as the Board of Examiners. (b) The membership of the Board of Examiners shall be constituted in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary. The Secretary shall from time to time designate a member of the Board of Examiners as the chairman thereof. Not more than one half of the membership of the Board of Examiners may be made up of officers of the Foreign Service. SEC. 32. Functions of the Board. (a) There are hereby delegated to the Board of Examiners the functions which prior to the taking effect of Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1965 were vested in the Board of Examiners for the Foreign Service abolished by that plan by Sections 212(a), 516(a), and 517 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 (22 U.S.C. 827(a) ; 911(a); 912). (b) The Board of Examiners shall perform such additional functions as the Secretary may from time to time delegate or otherwise assign thereto. SEC. 33. Direction and supervision. All functions delegated or otherwise assigned by or pursuant to this Part shall be performed subject to the direction and supervision of the Secretary. PART IV. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS SEC. 41. Administrative arrangements. (a) The Department of State is hereby designated as the agency which shall provide administrative services and facilities for the Board of the Foreign Service and the Board of Examiners. (b) Upon request of the Secretary, the heads of executive departments and agencies shall, as far as practicable, furnish the Board of the Foreign Service and the Board of Examiners information and reports relating to matters within the cognizance of the respective boards. SEC. 42. Saving provisions. (a) Except to the extent that they may be inconsistent with this Order, all determinations, authorizations, regulations, rulings, certificates, orders, directives, contracts, agreements and other actions made, issued, or entered into with respect to any functions affected by this Order and not revoked, superseded, or otherwise made inapplicable before the effective date of this Order shall continue in full force and effect until amended, modified, or terminated by appropriate authority. (b) For the purposes of any proceeding or other business which immediately before the effective date of Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1965 or of this Order was pending or in process before the Board of the Foreign Service or the Board of Examiners for the Foreign Service as established by the provisions of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 or by the provisions of Executive Order No. 11240 of August 4, 1965, the bodies established by Parts II and III of this Order shall be deemed to represent continuations of the respective Boards. (c) Nothing in Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1965 (30 F.R. 9353) or in this Order or in any Executive order issued before the date of this Order shall be deemed to terminate or impair any of the following: (1) The availability to the Director of the United States Information Agency of the authority which was made available to him by Executive Order No. 10522 of March 26, 1954. (2) The availability to the Administrator of the Agency for International Development of the authority which was made available to him by Section 2 (b) (3) of State Department Delegation of Authority No. 104 of November 3, 1961, 26 F.R. 10608. (3) The availability to the Director of the Peace Corps of the authority which was made available to him by Section 2 (b) (3) of State Department Delegation of Authority No. 85-11A of August 29, 1962, 27 F.R. 9074. (4) The availability to the Secretary of State of the authority which was vested in him by Section 42(3) of the Arms Control and Disarmament Act (22 U.S.C. 2582(3)). SEC. 43. Effective date. The provisions of this Order shall be effective as of January 1, 1966. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House December 31, 1965

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (5)

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

Amends Executive Order 12363—The Foreign Service of the United States

Ronald Reagan • 1982-05-21

Amends Executive Order 12292—Foreign Service Act of 1980

Ronald Reagan • 1981-02-23

Amends Executive Order 12188—International Trade Functions

Jimmy Carter • 1980-01-02

References Executive Order 11636—Employee-Management Relations in the Foreign Service of the United States

Richard Nixon • 1971-12-17

References Executive Order 11434—Relating to the Administration of the Foreign Service Personnel Systems of the United States, and for Other Purposes

Lyndon B. Johnson • 1968-11-08

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 11,264 (Dec. 31, 1965), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11264-the-board-the-foreign-service-and-the-board-examiners-for-the.