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Executive Orders Historical Archive
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Executive Order 11648 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 11648—Amendment of Executive Order No. 11183 Which Established the President's Commission on White House Fellowships

Richard Nixon Richard Nixon
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Wednesday, February 16, 1972
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2 min read (356 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (356 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Executive Order No. 11183 of October 3, 1964, as amended by Executive Order No. 11410 of May 6, 1968, is hereby further amended as follows: 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 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 16, 1972, this order concerns Amendment of Executive Order No. 11183 Which Established the President's Commission on White House Fellowships. Executive Order No. 11183 of October 3, 1964, as amended by Executive Order No. 11410 of May 6, 1968, is hereby further amended as follows: 1. Section 2(a) is amended to read: "Sec. 2. Functions of the Commission.

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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Executive Order No. 11183 of October 3, 1964, as amended by Executive Order No. 11410 of May 6, 1968, is hereby further amended as follows: 1.

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Section 2(a) is amended to read: "Sec. 2.

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The Commission shall prescribe such standards and procedures as may be necessary to enable it to recommend annually a group of outstanding young persons from among whom the President may select White House Fellows.

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Is amended by striking the word "and" at the end of paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end of paragraph (4) and inserting "; and" in lieu thereof, and by adding at the end of that section a new paragraph (5) as follows: "(5) Are not employees as defined in section 2105 of title 5 of the United States Code on the closing date for receipt of applications." 3.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

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)
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"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
47 / 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

Moderate Friction

Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.

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
356
2,110 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
13.2
College Level
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 as President of the United States, Executive Order No. 11183 of October 3, 1964, as amended by Executive Order No. 11410 of May 6, 1968, is hereby further amended as follows: 1. Section 2(a) is amended to read: "Sec. 2. Functions of the Commission. (a) The Commission shall prescribe such standards and procedures as may be necessary to enable it to recommend annually a group of outstanding young persons from among whom the President may select White House Fellows. Following publication of these standards and procedures, the Commission may accept (1) applications from individuals, including regular members of the Armed Forces of the United States, and (2) nominations from sponsoring individuals or organizations for consideration in its recommendations." 2. Section 2 (b) is amended by striking the word "and" at the end of paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end of paragraph (4) and inserting "; and" in lieu thereof, and by adding at the end of that section a new paragraph (5) as follows: "(5) Are not employees as defined in section 2105 of title 5 of the United States Code on the closing date for receipt of applications." 3. Section 3 is amended to read: "Sec. 3. White House Fellows. White House Fellows will be appointed to serve for 12 months on the White House staff, in the Executive Office of the President, in the Office of the Vice President, or in the offices of members of the Cabinet, as they may be assigned, beginning on September 1 of the year in which they are selected." 4. Section 4 is amended to read: "Sec. 4. Executive Agencies. (a) Each executive agency as defined in section 105 of title 5 of the United States Code shall extend fullest cooperation to the White House Fellows Program and attempt to maximize the Program's benefits to the individual Fellow, the Department or Agency, and the Federal Government. "(b) The United States Civil Service Commission shall provide the Commission with administrative services, staff support, and travel expenses as authorized by law." RICHARD NIXON The White House, February 16, 1972

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 11,648 (Feb. 16, 1972), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11648-amendment-executive-order-no-11183-which-established-the-presidents.