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Executive Order 11685 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 11685—Amending Executive Order No. 10973, Relating to Administration of Foreign Assistance and Related Functions, and Executive Order No. 11501, Relating to Administration of Foreign Military Sales

Richard Nixon Richard Nixon
•
Monday, September 25, 1972
•
3 min read (672 words)

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

This executive order, signed by President Richard Nixon on 1972-09-25, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Amending Executive Order No. 10973, Relating to Administration of Foreign Assistance and Related Functions, and Executive Order No. 11501, Relating to Administration of Foreign Military Sales." It outlines operative directives for executive department officers, delegating enforcement responsibilities and establishing official governance guidelines.

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

▪ By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 621 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (22 U.S.C.
▪ 10973 of November 3, 1961, as amended, is hereby amended as follows: 1.
▪ Is amended by redesignating clause (5) as clause (6) and inserting after the comma at the end of clause (4) a new clause (5), as follows: "(5) Section 8(d) of the Act of January 12, 1971 (P.L.
▪ Subsections (b) and (c) of section 102 are amended to read as follows: "(b) The Agency shall be headed by an Administrator who shall be appointed pursuant to section 624(a) of the Act.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
Total Words
672
3,776 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
10.8
Post-Grad reading level
Constitutional Polarity
+0.02
Framers' Alignment index
📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 11685, Richard Nixon (Sep 25, 1972). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11685-amending-executive-order-no-10973-relating-administration-foreign.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →
By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 621 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (22 U.S.C. 2381), and section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code, and as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows: PART 1. FOREIGN ASSISTANCE Executive Order No. 10973 of November 3, 1961, as amended, is hereby amended as follows: 1. Section 101 is amended by redesignating clause (5) as clause (6) and inserting after the comma at the end of clause (4) a new clause (5), as follows: "(5) Section 8(d) of the Act of January 12, 1971 (P.L. 91-672; 84 Stat. 2055)3" 2. Subsections (b) and (c) of section 102 are amended to read as follows: "(b) The Agency shall be headed by an Administrator who shall be appointed pursuant to section 624(a) of the Act. "(c) The other officers provided for in section 624(a) of the Act shall also serve in the Agency." 3. Section 103 is revoked. 4. Paragraph (a) of Section 201 is amended by inserting "(except Chapter 4 thereof)" after "Part II". 5. Section 203 is amended as follows: (a) In paragraph (a), delete "506(a)" and insert in lieu thereof "505(a)". (b) In paragraph (b), delete "506 (b)" and insert in lieu thereof "505 (b)". (c) Paragraph (c) and paragraph (d) are revoked. (d) A new paragraph (f) is added at the end of section 203 as follows: "(f) Those under section 514 of the Act." 6. Section 301 is amended as follows: (a) Paragraph (a) is amended to read as follows: "(a) The functions conferred upon the President by subsections (a) (2) and (b) of section 514 of the Act and by the second sentence of section 612(a) of the Act." (b) A new paragraph (c) is added at the end of section 301 as follows: "(c) In carrying out the functions under section 514 of the Act delegated to him by this order, the Secretary of the Treasury shall consult with the Secretary of State." 7. Section 401 is amended as follows: (a) In paragraph (a), delete ", and 634(a)" and insert "and" after "633(a),". (b) In paragraph (c), delete the section numbers therein and insert in lieu thereof "202 (b), 205, 303, 481, 505(b) (4), 506(a), 604(a), 610, 614(c), 624(d)(7), 632(b), and 634(c) of the Act." (c) In subparagraph (d) (2), delete "506(b) (1), (2), and (3)" and insert in lieu thereof "505(b) (1), (2), and (3)". (d) Subparagraph (d) (3) is revoked. (e) A new subparagraph (d) (5) shall be added at the end of paragraph (d) as follows: "(5) That under the second sentence of section 654(c) with respect to the publication in the Federal Register of any finding or determination reserved to the President: Provided, that any officer to whom there is delegated the function of making any finding or determination within the purview of section 654(a) is also authorized to reach the conclusion specified in the second sentence of section 654(c) in performance of the function delegated to him." (f) Paragraph (g) is amended to read as follows: "(g) That under section 502 of the Foreign Assistance and Related Programs Appropriation Act, 1972 (86 Stat. 55), with respect to certification." 8. Section 601 is amended by inserting ", as amended," after "Foreign Assistance Act of 1961." 9. Section 604 is amended by adding thereto a new subsection (f), as follows: "(f) In conformity with section 202(b) of the Act of February 7, 1972 (P.L. 92-226; 86 Stat. 27), references in this order to Part I of the Act shall be deemed to include also chapter 4 of Part II of the Act, and references in this order to Part II of the Act shall be deemed to exclude chapter 4 of Part II of the Act." PART II. FOREIGN MILITARY SALES Section 1(i) of Executive Order No. 11501 of December 22, 1969, is hereby amended by deleting "42 (b)" and inserting in lieu thereof "42(c)." RICHARD NIXON The White House, September 25, 1972.