WHEREAS the United States has initiated a number of programs in various Departments that should be made available for the development and benefit of the Indian population; and WHEREAS these programs should be adapted and coordinated in such manner that Indians will participate in and be benefited by them: Now, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Establishment of Council. There is hereby established The National Council on Indian Opportunity (hereinafter referred to as the "Council"). The Council shall have membership as follows: The Vice President of the United States who shall be the chairman of the Council, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, and six Indian leaders appointed by the President of the United States for terms of two years. SEC. 2. Functions of the Council. The Council shall: (a) Encourage full use of Federal programs to benefit the Indian population, adapting them where necessary to be available to Indians on reservations in a meaningful way. (b)Encourage interagency coordination and cooperation in carrying out Federal programs as they relate to Indians. (c) Appraise the impact and progress of Federal programs for Indians. (d) Suggest ways to improve such programs. SEC. 3. Compensation and per diem. Members of the Council who are officers of the Federal government shall receive no additional compensation by reason of this order. Other members of the Council shall be entitled to receive compensation and travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law for persons in the government service employed intermittently (5 U.S.C., §§ 3109, 5703). SEC. 4. Assistance to the Council. (a) Each Federal department and agency represented on the Council shall furnish such necessary assistance to the Council as may be authorized by section 214 of the Act of May 3, 1945, 59 Stat. 134 (31 U.S.C. 691), or other law. The Department of the Interior shall furnish necessary administrative services for the Council. (b) The staff of the Council shall include an Executive Director, who shall be appointed by the chairman of the Council, and such other employees as may be necessary, who shall be assigned by the departments and agencies represented on the Council. SEC. 5. Meetings. The Council shall meet on call of the chairman. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House March 6, 1968
Executive Order 11399 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
Executive Order 11399—Establishing the National Council on Indian Opportunity
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (426 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
There is hereby established The National Council on Indian Opportunity (hereinafter referred to as the "Council").
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Public Health & Medical Institutions
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 March 6, 1968, this order concerns Establishing the National Council on Indian Opportunity. Establishment of Council. There is hereby established The National Council on Indian Opportunity (hereinafter referred to as the "Council"). The Council shall have membership as follows: The Vice President of the United States who shall be the chairman of the Council, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health, Education…
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
▪
There is hereby established The National Council on Indian Opportunity (hereinafter referred to as the "Council").
▪
The Council shall have membership as follows: The Vice President of the United States who shall be the chairman of the Council, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, and six Indian leaders appointed by the President of the United States for terms of two years.
▪
The Council shall: (a) Encourage full use of Federal programs to benefit the Indian population, adapting them where necessary to be available to Indians on reservations in a meaningful way.
▪
Members of the Council who are officers of the Federal government shall receive no additional compensation by reason of this order.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions
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 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
📐
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
426
2,644 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
13.4
College Level
Text size:
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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (2)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Richard Nixon • 1972-12-01
Richard Nixon • 1970-08-11
Related Executive Orders
Other executive actions signed by Lyndon B. Johnson around this period.
EO 11398 Mar 4, 1968
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Fidelity (+0.47)
Executive Order 11398—Establishing the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. There is hereby established the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (hereinafter referred to as the Council), which shall be composed of the Vice President, who shall be the Chairman, the Secretary of State, the…
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 5m
EO 11400 Mar 11, 1968
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11400—Placing an Additional Position in Level V of the Federal Executive Salary Schedule
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Section 2 of Executive Order No. 11248 of October 10, 1965, as amended, is further amended by adding thereto the following: (18) Special Assistant for Regional Economic Coordination, Department of Commerce.
Lyndon B. Johnson College Level • 1m
EO 11401 Mar 13, 1968
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11401—Modifying Executive Order No. 6868 of October 9, 1934, as Amended, Designating the Authority to Carry Out the Provisions of the District of Columbia Alley Dwelling Act
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
I hereby designate the Commissioner of the District of Columbia as the Authority to carry out the provisions of the said Act. Such Authority shall be deemed a continuation of the Authority heretofore designated under Executive Order No. 6868 of October 9, 1934, as amended.
Lyndon B. Johnson High School • 1m
EO 11402 Mar 29, 1968
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11402—Making the Vice President of the United States the Chairman of the President's Council on Recreation and Natural Beauty
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order No. 11278 of May 4, 1966, entitled "Establishing a President's Council and a Committee on Recreation and Natural Beauty", as amended, is hereby further amended by substituting for section 101 thereof the following: "SECTION 101. Membership and chairmanship.
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 11397 Feb 9, 1968
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11397—Authorizing Transitional Appointments of Veterans Who Have Served During the Vietnam Era
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Under such regulations as the Civil Service Commission may prescribe, the head of an agency may make an excepted appointment (to be known as a "transitional appointment") to any position in the competitive service at GS-5 or below, or the equivalent thereof, of a veteran or…
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 4m
EO 11396 Feb 7, 1968
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Fidelity (+0.29)
Executive Order 11396—Providing for the Coordination by the Attorney General of Federal Law Enforcement and Crime Prevention Programs
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
The Attorney General is hereby designated to facilitate and coordinate (1) the criminal law enforcement activities and crime prevention programs of all Federal departments and agencies, and (2) the activities of such departments and agencies relating to the development and…
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 2m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 11,399 (Mar. 6, 1968), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11399-establishing-the-national-council-indian-opportunity.
