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Executive Order 11646 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 11646—Membership of Department of State on the Great Lakes Basin Commission

Richard Nixon Richard Nixon
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Tuesday, February 8, 1972
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1 min read (240 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 1 min read (240 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Section 3(2) of Executive Order No. 11345 of April 20, 1967, as amended, is hereby further amended by inserting "Department of State," immediately before "Department of Agriculture".

View all 3 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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 February 8, 1972, this order concerns Membership of Department of State on the Great Lakes Basin Commission. Section 3(2) of Executive Order No. 11345 of April 20, 1967, as amended, is hereby further amended by inserting "Department of State," immediately before "Department of Agriculture". SEC. 2. Section 5 of Executive Order No. 11345 is hereby amended to read as follows: "SEC. 5. International Coordination.

Constitutional Assessment: Reviewed under the Tenth Amendment and the principle of dual federalism, this order touches upon domains traditionally reserved to the sovereign States. The Framers would caution against any attempt to commandeer state officers or displace local police powers through federal executive fiat.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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Section 3(2) of Executive Order No. 11345 of April 20, 1967, as amended, is hereby further amended by inserting "Department of State," immediately before "Department of Agriculture".

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Of Executive Order No. 11345 is hereby amended to read as follows: "SEC. 5.

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The Council and the Department of State shall consult as appropriate on matters under consideration by the Commission which relate to the areas of interest and jurisdiction of the International Joint Commission, United States and Canada, and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission."

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Energy & Environment
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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 1 (Maximum Authority)
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"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

"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: Supportive of Execution
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." — 10th Amendment to the US Constitution (1791)

Mason would scrutinize whether this federal directive intrudes into police powers, land stewardship, or municipal domains historically reserved to local citizens. The Anti-Federalist demand is that federal administration must never supplant state self-governance.

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.

🛡️ High Constitutional Concordance
23 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Low Friction

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

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

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

Low Friction

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%).
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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
240
1,501 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
12.4
High School
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

Planning for the conservation and use of the water and related land resources of the Great Lakes Basin requires coordination among the affected State and local governments, Federal agencies, other jurisdictions and agencies, and with the Government of Canada. To assure effective coordination in this regard, Executive Order No. 11345 of April 20, 1967, created the Great Lakes Basin Commission pursuant to the provisions of section 201 of the Water Resources Planning Act. I have now determined that the inclusion of a representative of the Department of State as a member of the Great Lakes Basin Commission would enhance the work of that Commission.

NOW, THEREFORE, #now-therefore

by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 202 of the Water Resources Planning Act (79 Stat. 247; 42 U.S.C. 1962b-1) and as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Section 3(2) of Executive Order No. 11345 of April 20, 1967, as amended, is hereby further amended by inserting "Department of State," immediately before "Department of Agriculture". SEC. 2. Section 5 of Executive Order No. 11345 is hereby amended to read as follows: "SEC. 5. International Coordination. The Council and the Department of State shall consult as appropriate on matters under consideration by the Commission which relate to the areas of interest and jurisdiction of the International Joint Commission, United States and Canada, and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission." RICHARD NIXON The White House, February 8, 1972

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 11,646 (Feb. 8, 1972), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11646-membership-department-state-the-great-lakes-basin-commission.