★
Executive Orders Historical Archive
🎲
Cite
Executive Order 11524 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process

Executive Order 11524—Adjusting rates of Pay for Certain Statutory Schedules

Richard Nixon Richard Nixon
•
Wednesday, April 15, 1970
•
3 min read (585 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (585 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The per annum salaries of Foreign Serv¬ice officers in the schedule contained in section 412 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946, as amended (22 U.S.C. 867), are adjusted as follows: (b) The per annum salaries of staff officers and employees in the schedule contained in section 415 of the For¬eign Service Act of 1946, as amended (22 U.S.C. 870(a) ),are adjusted as follows: Conversion Rules SEC. 5.

View all 4 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments 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 Richard Nixon on April 15, 1970, this order concerns Adjusting rates of Pay for Certain Statutory Schedules. General Schedule SECTION 1. The rates of basic pay in the General Schedule contained in section 5332(a) of title 5, United States Code, are adjusted as follows: "GENERAL SCHEDULE Schedules for the Postal Field Service SEC. 2.

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

▪

The per annum salaries of Foreign Serv¬ice officers in the schedule contained in section 412 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946, as amended (22 U.S.C. 867), are adjusted as follows: (b) The per annum salaries of staff officers and employees in the schedule contained in section 415 of the For¬eign Service Act of 1946, as amended (22 U.S.C. 870(a) ),are adjusted as follows: Conversion Rules SEC. 5.

▪

The officers hereinafter designated shall prescribe such rules as may be necessary to convert the rates of basic pay, basic compensation or salaries of officers and employees to the rates prescribed in this order: (1) General Schedule, the Civil Service Commission.

▪

Subject to the provisions of this order, rules prescribed pursuant to subsection (a) shall conform as nearly as may be practicable to the provisions with regard to conversion contained in the Federal Salary Act of 1967, 81 Stat. 624.

▪

Entitlement to retroactive pay under such rules shall be subject to the provisions of section 5 of the Federal Employees Salary Act of 1970.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities 🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ National Security & Defense 🏷️ Agriculture 🏷️ Government Operations & Civil Service
🏛️

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

"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
43 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.

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

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%).
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
585
3,811 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
11
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 the Constitution and statutes of the United States, including the Federal Employees Salary Act of 1970 and section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows: General Schedule SECTION 1. The rates of basic pay in the General Schedule contained in section 5332(a) of title 5, United States Code, are adjusted as follows: "GENERAL SCHEDULE Schedules for the Postal Field Service SEC. 2. (a) The rates of basic compensation in the Postal Field Service Schedule contained in section 3542(a) of title 39, United States Code, are adjusted as follows: "POSTAL FIELD SERVICE SCHEDULE (b) The rates of basic compensation in the Rural Carrier Schedule contained in section 3543(a) of title 39, United States Code, are adjusted as follows: "RURAL CARRIER SCHEDULE Schedules for the Department of Medicine and Surgery of the Veterans' Administration SEC. 3. The schedules contained in section 4107 of title 38, United States Code, for certain positions within the Department of Medicine and Surgery of the Veterans' Administration, are adjusted as follows: "Section 4103 Schedule "Assistant Chief Medical Director, $35,505. "Medical Director, $30,714 minimum to $34,810 maximum. "Director of Nursing Service, $22,885 minimum to $29,752 maximum. "Director of Chaplain Service, $22,885 minimum to $29,752 maximum. "Chief Pharmacist, $22,885 minimum to $29,752 maximum. "Chief Dietitian, $22,885 minimum to $29,752 maximum. "Physician and Dentist Schedule "Director grade, $26,547 minimum to $33,627 maximum. "Executive grade, $24,671 minimum to $32,069 maximum. "Chief grade, $22,885 minimum to $29,752 maximum. "Senior grade, $19,643 minimum to $25,538 maximum. "Intermediate grade, $16,760 minimum to $21,791 maximum. "Full grade, $14,192 minimum to $18,449 maximum. "Associate grade, $11,905 minimum to $15,478 maximum. "Nurse Schedule "Assistant Director grade, $19,643 minimum to $25,538 maximum. "Chief grade, $16,760 minimum to $21,791 maximum. "Senior grade, $14,192 minimum to $18,449 maximum. "Intermediate grade, $11,905 minimum to $15,478 maximum. "Full grade, $9,881 minimum to $12,842 maximum. "Associate grade, $8,519 minimum to $11,075 maximum. "Junior grade, $7,294 minimum to $9,481 maximum." Foreign Service Schedules SEC. 4. (a) The per annum salaries of Foreign Serv¬ice officers in the schedule contained in section 412 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946, as amended (22 U.S.C. 867), are adjusted as follows: (b) The per annum salaries of staff officers and employees in the schedule contained in section 415 of the For¬eign Service Act of 1946, as amended (22 U.S.C. 870(a) ),are adjusted as follows: Conversion Rules SEC. 5. (a) The officers hereinafter designated shall prescribe such rules as may be necessary to convert the rates of basic pay, basic compensation or salaries of officers and employees to the rates prescribed in this order: (1) General Schedule, the Civil Service Commission. (2) Postal Field Service including the Rural Carrier Schedule, the Postmaster General. (3) Schedules for the Department of Medicine and Surgery of the Veterans' Administration, the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs. (4) Foreign Service schedules, the Secretary of State. (b) Subject to the provisions of this order, rules prescribed pursuant to subsection (a) shall conform as nearly as may be practicable to the provisions with regard to conversion contained in the Federal Salary Act of 1967, 81 Stat. 624. Entitlement to retroactive pay under such rules shall be subject to the provisions of section 5 of the Federal Employees Salary Act of 1970. Effective Date SEC. 6. This order shall take effect as of the first day of the first pay period beginning on or after December 27, 1969. RICHARD NIXON The White House April 15, 1970

🔗

Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

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

Supersedes Executive Order 11811—Adjusting Rates of Pay for Certain Statutory Pay Systems
Gerald R. Ford • 1974-10-07
📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 11,524 (Apr. 15, 1970), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11524-adjusting-rates-pay-for-certain-statutory-schedules.