By virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 3347 of Title 5 of the United States Code and Section 301 of Title 3 of the United States Code, and as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows: SECTION 1. In the event of a vacancy in the office of Postmaster General or during the absence or disability of the Postmaster General, the Deputy Postmaster General shall act as Postmaster General. SEC. 2. During any period when, by reason of absence, disability, or vacancy in office, neither the Postmaster General nor the Deputy Postmaster General is available to exercise the powers or perform the duties of the office of Postmaster General, an Assistant Postmaster General or the General Counsel of the Post Office Department, in such order as the Postmaster General may from time to time prescribe in writing, shall act as Postmaster General. If no such order of succession is in effect at that time, they shall act as Postmaster General in the order in which they shall have taken office as Assistant Postmasters General or General Counsel. SEC. 3. The following are hereby superseded: (1) Executive Order No. 10154 of August 22, 1950. (2) Executive Order No. 10558 of September 8, 1954. (3) Executive Order No. 10686 of November 1, 1956. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House, October 15, 1966.
Executive Order 11313 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order 11313—Providing that Certain Officers May Act as Postmaster General
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (226 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
In the event of a vacancy in the office of Postmaster General or during the absence or disability of the Postmaster General, the Deputy Postmaster General shall act as Postmaster General.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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 17, 1966, this order concerns Providing that Certain Officers May Act as Postmaster General. In the event of a vacancy in the office of Postmaster General or during the absence or disability of the Postmaster General, the Deputy Postmaster General shall act as Postmaster General. SEC. 2. During any period when, by reason of absence, disability, or vacancy in office, neither the Postmaster General nor the Deputy Postmaster General is available to exercise the powers or perform the duties of the office of…
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
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In the event of a vacancy in the office of Postmaster General or during the absence or disability of the Postmaster General, the Deputy Postmaster General shall act as Postmaster General.
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During any period when, by reason of absence, disability, or vacancy in office, neither the Postmaster General nor the Deputy Postmaster General is available to exercise the powers or perform the duties of the office of Postmaster General, an Assistant Postmaster General or the General Counsel of the Post Office Department, in such order as the Postmaster General may from time to time prescribe in writing, shall act as Postmaster General.
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If no such order of succession is in effect at that time, they shall act as Postmaster General in the order in which they shall have taken office as Assistant Postmasters General or General Counsel.
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The following are hereby superseded: (1) Executive Order No. 10154 of August 22, 1950.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
Policy Areas & Topics
🏛️
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating 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
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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
35 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8
Low Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
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
Moderate Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.
Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment
Moderate Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
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
Low Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
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
Moderate Friction
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
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
226
1,311 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
12.3
High School
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
3 orders cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 10154 Aug 22, 1950
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 10154—Designation of Certain Officers of the Post Office Department to Act as Postmaster General
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
In case of the death, resignation, absence, or sickness of both the Postmaster General and the Deputy Postmaster General the officer holding the position highest on the following list who is not absent or under disability to perform the duties of the office of Postmaster…
Harry S Truman High School • 1m
EO 10558 Sep 8, 1954
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 10558—Amendment of Executive Order No. 10154, Designating Certain Officers of the Post Office Department To Act as Postmaster General
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
Executive Order No. 10154 of August 22, 1950, entitled "Designation of Certain Officers of the Post Office Department To Act as Postmaster General", be, and it is hereby, amended by adding to the list of officers contained therein at the end thereof the following: "5.
Dwight D. Eisenhower High School • 1m
EO 10686 Nov 1, 1956
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 10686—Amendment of Executive Order No. 10154, Designating Certain Officers of the Post Office Department To Act as Postmaster General
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order No. 10154 of August 22, 1950 (3 CFR, 1950 Supp., p. 115), entitled "Designation of Certain Officers of the Post Office Department To Act as Postmaster General", as amended by Executive Order No. 10558 of September 8, 1954 (3 CFR, 1954 Supp., p. 70), be, and it…
Dwight D. Eisenhower Grade 9 • 1m
EO 11314 Oct 17, 1966
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11314—Creating a Board of Inquiry to Report on Certain Labor Disputes Affecting the Military Jet Engine Industry, Military Aircraft Industry, Military Armament Industry and Military Electronics Industry of the United States
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
I hereby create a Board of Inquiry, consisting of Mr. David L. Cole, Chairman, Mr. John Dunlop and Mr. Jacob Seidenberg, whom I appoint to inquire into the issues involved in these disputes. The Board shall have powers and duties as set forth in Title II of such Act.
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 3m
EO 11312 Oct 14, 1966
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11312—Designating the Secretary of State to Perform Functions Relating to Certain Objects of Cultural Significance Imported Into the United States For Temporary Display or Exhibition
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
The Secretary of State is hereby designated and empowered to perform the functions conferred upon the President by the above-mentioned Act and shall be deemed to be authorized, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, (1) to determine that any work…
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 11311 Oct 14, 1966
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11311—Carrying out Provisions of the Beirut Agreement of 1948 Relating to Audio-Visual Materials
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
And proclaim that 1. Pursuant to section 3 (b) of the Joint Resolution, the amendments to the Tariff Schedules of the United States made by section 3 (a) of the Joint Resolution shall apply with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, on and…
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
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Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 11,313 (Oct. 17, 1966), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11313-providing-that-certain-officers-may-act-postmaster-general.
