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Executive Order 11294 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 11294—Delegating Certain Authority of the President to Establish Maximum Per Diem Rates for Government Civilian Personnel in Travel Status

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon B. Johnson
•
Thursday, August 4, 1966
•
2 min read (381 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (381 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Executive Order No. 10621 of July 1, 1955, entitled "Delegation of Certain Functions of the President to the Secretary of Defense," is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph at the end of Section 1 thereof: "(o) The authority vested in the President by section 3 of the Travel Expense Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 166, as amended (5 U.S.C. 836), to establish maximum rates of per diem allowances for civilian officers and employees of the Government to the extent that such authority pertains to travel status in localities in Alaska, Hawaii, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone, and possessions of the United States." SEC. 2.

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 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 August 4, 1966, this order concerns Delegating Certain Authority of the President to Establish Maximum Per Diem Rates for Government Civilian Personnel in Travel Status. Executive Order No. 10621 of July 1, 1955, entitled "Delegation of Certain Functions of the President to the Secretary of Defense," is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph at the end of Section 1 thereof: "(o) The authority vested in the President by section 3 of the Travel Expense Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 166, as amended (5 U.S.C. 836), to establish maximum rates of per diem allowances for civilian…

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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Executive Order No. 10621 of July 1, 1955, entitled "Delegation of Certain Functions of the President to the Secretary of Defense," is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph at the end of Section 1 thereof: "(o) The authority vested in the President by section 3 of the Travel Expense Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 166, as amended (5 U.S.C. 836), to establish maximum rates of per diem allowances for civilian officers and employees of the Government to the extent that such authority pertains to travel status in localities in Alaska, Hawaii, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone, and possessions of the United States." SEC. 2.

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There is hereby delegated to the Secretary of State the authority vested in the President by Section 3 of the Travel Expense Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 166, as amended (5 U.S.C. 836), to establish maximum rates of per diem allowances for civilian officers and employees of the Government to the extent that such authority pertains to travel status in localities in any area (including the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands) situated outside the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone, and the possessions of the United States.

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Executive Order No. 11230 of June 28, 1965, entitled "Delegating Certain Functions of the President to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget," as amended, is hereby further amended by substituting for paragraph (9) of Section 1 thereof the following: "(9) The authority vested in the President by Section 3 of the Travel Expense Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 166 (5 U.S.C. 836), to establish maximum rates of per diem allowances for civilian officers and employees of the Government to the extent that such authority pertains to travel status of such officers and employees while en route to, from, or between localities situated outside the 48 contiguous states of the United States and the District of Columbia." SEC. 4.

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To the extent not heretofore superseded, Executive Order No. 10970 of October 27, 1961, is hereby superseded.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Economy & Finance
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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
30 / 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

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
381
2,246 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
14.3
College Level
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 Section 301 of Title 3 of the United States Code, and as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Executive Order No. 10621 of July 1, 1955, entitled "Delegation of Certain Functions of the President to the Secretary of Defense," is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph at the end of Section 1 thereof: "(o) The authority vested in the President by section 3 of the Travel Expense Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 166, as amended (5 U.S.C. 836), to establish maximum rates of per diem allowances for civilian officers and employees of the Government to the extent that such authority pertains to travel status in localities in Alaska, Hawaii, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone, and possessions of the United States." SEC. 2. There is hereby delegated to the Secretary of State the authority vested in the President by Section 3 of the Travel Expense Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 166, as amended (5 U.S.C. 836), to establish maximum rates of per diem allowances for civilian officers and employees of the Government to the extent that such authority pertains to travel status in localities in any area (including the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands) situated outside the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone, and the possessions of the United States. SEC. 3. Executive Order No. 11230 of June 28, 1965, entitled "Delegating Certain Functions of the President to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget," as amended, is hereby further amended by substituting for paragraph (9) of Section 1 thereof the following: "(9) The authority vested in the President by Section 3 of the Travel Expense Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 166 (5 U.S.C. 836), to establish maximum rates of per diem allowances for civilian officers and employees of the Government to the extent that such authority pertains to travel status of such officers and employees while en route to, from, or between localities situated outside the 48 contiguous states of the United States and the District of Columbia." SEC. 4. To the extent not heretofore superseded, Executive Order No. 10970 of October 27, 1961, is hereby superseded. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House August 4, 1966

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (2)

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

Revokes Executive Order 12561—Delegating Certain Functions of the President Relating to Federal Civilian Employee and Contractor Travel Expenses
Ronald Reagan • 1986-07-01
References Executive Order 11609—Delegating Certain Functions Vested in the President to Other Officers of the Government
Richard Nixon • 1971-07-22
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 11,294 (Aug. 4, 1966), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11294-delegating-certain-authority-the-president-establish-maximum-per.