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Executive Order 11586 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 11586—Amending the Selective Service Regulations

Richard Nixon Richard Nixon
•
Wednesday, March 10, 1971
•
3 min read (632 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (632 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

I hereby prescribe the following amendments of the Selective Service Regulations prescribed by Executive Orders Number 10001 of September 17, 1948; Number 10008 of October 18, 1948; Number 10202 of January 12, 1951; Number 10292 of September 25, 1951; Number 10420 of December 17, 1952; Number 10659 of February 15, 1956; Number 10714 of June 13, 1957; Number 10837 of September 14, 1959; Number 10984 of January 5, 1962; Number 11350 of May 3, 1967; Number 11360 of June 30, 1967; and constituting portions of Chapter XVI of Title 32 of the Code of Federal Regulations: SEC. 1.

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
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 March 10, 1971, this order concerns Amending the Selective Service Regulations. I hereby prescribe the following amendments of the Selective Service Regulations prescribed by Executive Orders Number 10001 of September 17, 1948; Number 10008 of October 18, 1948; Number 10202 of January 12, 1951; Number 10292 of September 25, 1951; Number 10420 of December 17, 1952; Number 10659 of February 15, 1956; Number 10714 of June 13, 1957; Number 10837 of September 14, 1959; Number 10984 of January 5…

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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I hereby prescribe the following amendments of the Selective Service Regulations prescribed by Executive Orders Number 10001 of September 17, 1948; Number 10008 of October 18, 1948; Number 10202 of January 12, 1951; Number 10292 of September 25, 1951; Number 10420 of December 17, 1952; Number 10659 of February 15, 1956; Number 10714 of June 13, 1957; Number 10837 of September 14, 1959; Number 10984 of January 5, 1962; Number 11350 of May 3, 1967; Number 11360 of June 30, 1967; and constituting portions of Chapter XVI of Title 32 of the Code of Federal Regulations: SEC. 1.

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Part 1632, Delivery and Induction, is amended as follows: (a) Section 1632.1 Order to Report for Induction— is amended as follows: The text of Section 1632.1 is redesignated as paragraph (a) thereof and new paragraphs (b) and (c) are added to Section 1632.1 to read as follows: "(b) Any registrant who has been issued an Order to Report for Induction (SSS Form 252) and who is distant from his local board of origin, which issued the Order, must report at the time and place specified therein, unless he voluntarily submits to processing for induction at any Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station and is actually inducted into the Armed Forces or found to be not qualified for induction into the Armed Forces on or before the third day prior…

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"(c) If the registrant is inducted or if the registrant is found not qualified for induction pursuant to paragraph (b) hereof, the Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station shall inform the local board which issued the Order to Report for Induction (SSS Form 252) of such event, and in either such event the registrant shall not be required to comply with the said Order." (b) Section 1632.5 Preparing Records for a Group Ordered to Report for Induction—is amended by striking the letter designation "(a)" and all of paragraph (b).

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Section 1632.9 Certain Registrants May Request Transfer for Induction—is rescinded.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ National Security & Defense
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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
33 / 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

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

Low Friction

Confined strictly to internal federal jurisdiction, federal property, or direct military command.

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
632
3,785 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
14.1
College Level
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document
📑Sections Outline (11 sections)
Sec. 1632Sec. 1632Sec. 1632Sec. 1632Sec. 1632Sec. 1632Sec. 1632Sec. 1632Sec. 1632Sec. 1632Sec. 1642

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Military Selective Service Act of 1967 (62 Stat. 604, as amended), I hereby prescribe the following amendments of the Selective Service Regulations prescribed by Executive Orders Number 10001 of September 17, 1948; Number 10008 of October 18, 1948; Number 10202 of January 12, 1951; Number 10292 of September 25, 1951; Number 10420 of December 17, 1952; Number 10659 of February 15, 1956; Number 10714 of June 13, 1957; Number 10837 of September 14, 1959; Number 10984 of January 5, 1962; Number 11350 of May 3, 1967; Number 11360 of June 30, 1967; and constituting portions of Chapter XVI of Title 32 of the Code of Federal Regulations: SEC. 1. Part 1632, Delivery and Induction, is amended as follows: (a)

Section 1632. #sec-1632

1 Order to Report for Induction— is amended as follows: The text of

Section 1632. #sec-1632-2

1 is redesignated as paragraph (a) thereof and new paragraphs (b) and (c) are added to

Section 1632. #sec-1632-3

1 to read as follows: "(b) Any registrant who has been issued an Order to Report for Induction (SSS Form 252) and who is distant from his local board of origin, which issued the Order, must report at the time and place specified therein, unless he voluntarily submits to processing for induction at any Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station and is actually inducted into the Armed Forces or found to be not qualified for induction into the Armed Forces on or before the third day prior to the day that he was required to report in accordance with the Order to Report for Induction (SSS Form 252). "(c) If the registrant is inducted or if the registrant is found not qualified for induction pursuant to paragraph (b) hereof, the Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station shall inform the local board which issued the Order to Report for Induction (SSS Form 252) of such event, and in either such event the registrant shall not be required to comply with the said Order." (b)

Section 1632. #sec-1632-4

5 Preparing Records for a Group Ordered to Report for Induction—is amended by striking the letter designation "(a)" and all of paragraph (b). (c)

Section 1632. #sec-1632-5

9 Certain Registrants May Request Transfer for Induction—is rescinded. (d)

Section 1632. #sec-1632-6

10 Transfer for Induction Directed by Director of Selective Service—paragraph (c) is amended by substituting the words "such other action as prescribed by the Director" for the words "the other actions provided for in paragraphs (h) and (i) of

Section 1632. #sec-1632-7

9". (e)

Section 1632. #sec-1632-8

14 Duty of Registrant to Report for and Submit to Induction—is amended as follows: (1) Paragraph (a) is amended as follows: in the first sentence thereof the words "or an Order for Transferred Man to Report for Induction (SSS Form 253)" are deleted and in the last sentence thereof the words "and to each local board whose area he enters or in whose area he remains" are deleted. (2) Paragraph (b) is amended by substituting the words "Upon reporting for his scheduled induction as ordered by his local board" for the words "Upon reporting for induction". (f)

Section 1632. #sec-1632-9

15 Forwarding Registrants for Induction—paragraph (e) is amended by inserting after the word "group" in the first sentence the following words: "who are reporting for scheduled inductions as ordered by their local boards". (g)

Section 1632. #sec-1632-10

20 Records Returned to Local Board—paragraph (b) is amended by substituting the word "section" for the words "section 1632.9 and" in the first sentence thereof. SEC. 2.

Section 1642. #sec-1642

15 Continuous Duty of Certain Registrants to Report for Induction—is amended by deleting the words "or pursuant to an Order for Transferred Man to Report for Induction (SSS Form 253)" and the words ", and to each local board, whose area he enters or in whose area he remains". RICHARD NIXON The White House March 10, 1971

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 11,586 (Mar. 10, 1971), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11586-amending-the-selective-service-regulations.