WHEREAS foreign trade is an essential and continuing element in sustaining the growth, strength, and prosperity of our economy, contributes to the improvement of our balance of payments, and fosters the long-term commercial interest of the United States; and WHEREAS, on March 20, 1968, I requested the Congress to empower the Export-Import Bank of the United States to use up to $500,000,000 of its loan, guarantee, and insurance authority to finance a broadened program to sell American goods in foreign markets; and WHEREAS the Congress has authorized the Bank to extend loans, guarantees, and insurance which, in the judgment of the Board of Directors of the Bank, offer sufficient likelihood of repayment to justify the Bank's support in order to actively foster the foreign trade and long-term commercial interest of the United States; and WHEREAS it is desirable and appropriate that guidance concerning the commercial interests and the balance of payments objectives of the United States be provided to the Board of Directors of the Bank in the use of such loan, guarantee, and insurance authority allocated to finance export expansion, and I have stated-that I would establish an Export Expansion Advisory Committee to provide-such guidance to the Board of Directors of the Bank: 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 Advisory Committee. (a) There is hereby established the Export Expansion Advisory Committee (hereinafter referred to as "the Committee"). (b) The Committee shall be composed of the following members: the Secretary of Commerce, who shall be Chairman of the Committee, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of State, and the President and Chairman of the Board of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. SEC. 2. Functions of the Committee. The Committee shall review and make recommendations concerning applications and proposals for loans, guarantees, and insurance to be charged against allocations made to finance export expansion and shall provide guidance to the Board of Directors of the Bank concerning the use of such allocations with the view to fostering the foreign trade and long-term commercial interest of the United States. SEC. 3. Construction. Nothing in this order shall be construed to abrogate, modify, or restrict any function vested by law in, or assigned pursuant to law to, any Federal agency or any officer thereof or to any Federal interagency council or committee. As used herein the term "any Federal agency" includes any executive department and any other executive agency. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House July 31, 1968
Executive Order 11420 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.33)
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Executive Order 11420—Establishing the Export Expansion Advisory Committee
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (427 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
There is hereby established the Export Expansion Advisory Committee (hereinafter referred to as "the Committee").
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Foreign Nations & International Entities
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 July 31, 1968, this order concerns Establishing the Export Expansion Advisory Committee. Establishment of Advisory Committee. (a) There is hereby established the Export Expansion Advisory Committee (hereinafter referred to as "the Committee"). (b) The Committee shall be composed of the following members: the Secretary of Commerce, who shall be Chairman of the Committee, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of State, and the President and Chairman of the Board of the Export-Import Bank of the…
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
▪
There is hereby established the Export Expansion Advisory Committee (hereinafter referred to as "the Committee").
▪
The Committee shall be composed of the following members: the Secretary of Commerce, who shall be Chairman of the Committee, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of State, and the President and Chairman of the Board of the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
▪
The Committee shall review and make recommendations concerning applications and proposals for loans, guarantees, and insurance to be charged against allocations made to finance export expansion and shall provide guidance to the Board of Directors of the Bank concerning the use of such allocations with the view to fostering the foreign trade and long-term commercial interest of the United States.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises
🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities
🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
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 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
JM
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)
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: Supportive of Execution
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
📐
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
🛡️ High Constitutional Concordance
23 / 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
Low Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
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
Low Friction
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
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 in close harmony with statutory authority and standard Article II supervisory execution.
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
427
2,694 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
23.3
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
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⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
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📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
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🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Fidelity (+0.57)
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📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Policy. (a) Cooperative planning and execution of manpower training and supportive manpower service programs is hereby established as the policy of the Federal Government.
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⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
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📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Except with respect to facilities covered by Executive Orders No. 10485 and No. 10530, the Secretary of State is hereby designated and empowered to receive all applications for permits for the construction, connection, operation, or maintenance, at the borders of the United…
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📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 11,420 (July 31, 1968), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11420-establishing-the-export-expansion-advisory-committee.
