Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
This executive order, signed by President Richard Nixon on 1973-01-17, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Excusing Federal Employees in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area From Duty for One-Half Day on Friday, January 19, 1973." It is a direct, concise executive instruction delivering focused administrative or military commands to department leadership.
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
▪Employees of Federal executive departments, independent establishments, and other agencies, including their field offices, shall be excused from duty for one-half day on Friday, January 19, 1973, the day preceding Presidential Inauguration Day, January 20, 1973.
▪This order shall not apply to those employees regularly scheduled to work on January 20, 1973, and who are entitled to a holiday on that date under 5 U.S.C.
▪This one-half day shall be a holiday for the purposes of Executive Order 11582, dated February 11, 1971, 5 U.S.C.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
Total Words
235
1,445 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
16.3
Post-Grad reading level
Constitutional Polarity
+0.02
Framers' Alignment index
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Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 11696, Richard Nixon (Jan 17, 1973). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11696-excusing-federal-employees-the-washington-dc-metropolitan-area-from.
Official Document Text
Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Employees of Federal executive departments, independent establishments, and other agencies, including their field offices, shall be excused from duty for one-half day on Friday, January 19, 1973, the day preceding Presidential Inauguration Day, January 20, 1973. This order applies only to those employees whose official duty stations are located within the District of Columbia, Montgomery County and Prince Georges County in Maryland, and Alexandria City, Fairfax City, Falls Church City, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, and Prince William County in Virginia. This order shall not apply to those employees regularly scheduled to work on January 20, 1973, and who are entitled to a holiday on that date under 5 U.S.C. 6103 (c). SEC. 2. Employees of the Department of State, the Department of Defense, or other Federal departments, independent establishments, and agencies, who in the judgment of their agency heads should remain at their posts of duty for national security or other public reasons need not be excused. SEC. 3. This one-half day shall be a holiday for the purposes of Executive Order 11582, dated February 11, 1971, 5 U.S.C. 5546 and 6103 (b), and any other statute so far as it relates to the pay and leave of employees of the United States. RICHARD NIXON The White House, January 17, 1973.
