By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code, and as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Section 1 of Executive Order No. 11609 of July 22, 1971, is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraphs: "(22) The authority of the President under section 372 of title 2 of the Canal Zone Code to approve transfers between departments and agencies of certain property in the Canal Zone. "(23) The authority of the President under section 62(d) of title 2 of the Canal Zone Code to approve the valuation of properties and other assets being transferred between the Panama Canal Company and other Government agencies." SEC. 2. All actions heretofore taken by the President, the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, or the Director of the Office of Management and Budget in respect of matters affected by the amendment made by section 1 of this order and in force at the time of the issuance of this order, including any regulations prescribed or approved by any of them in respect of such matte's, shall, except as may be inconsistent with the provisions of this order, remain in effect until amended, modified, or revoked pursuant to the authority conferred by this order unless sooner terminated by operation of law. SEC. 3. Executive Order No. 11541 of July 1, 1970, is superseded to the extent that it is inconsistent with this order. RICHARD NIXON The White House, April 21, 1973.
Executive Order 11713 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
Executive Order 11713—Delegation of Functions Concerning Canal Zone Property
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (260 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
Of Executive Order No. 11609 of July 22, 1971, is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraphs: "(22) The authority of the President under section 372 of title 2 of the Canal Zone Code to approve transfers between departments and agencies of certain property in the Canal Zone.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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 April 21, 1973, this order concerns Delegation of Functions Concerning Canal Zone Property. Of Executive Order No. 11609 of July 22, 1971, is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraphs: "(22) The authority of the President under section 372 of title 2 of the Canal Zone Code to approve transfers between departments and agencies of certain property in the Canal Zone.
Constitutional Assessment: Evaluated against the Fifth Amendment, this action touches upon property or economic rights. An early statesman would insist upon strict adherence to due process of law and the constitutional guarantee that private holdings shall not be encumbered or taken for public purposes without just compensation and lawful process.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
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Of Executive Order No. 11609 of July 22, 1971, is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraphs: "(22) The authority of the President under section 372 of title 2 of the Canal Zone Code to approve transfers between departments and agencies of certain property in the Canal Zone.
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"(23) The authority of the President under section 62(d) of title 2 of the Canal Zone Code to approve the valuation of properties and other assets being transferred between the Panama Canal Company and other Government agencies." SEC. 2.
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All actions heretofore taken by the President, the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, or the Director of the Office of Management and Budget in respect of matters affected by the amendment made by section 1 of this order and in force at the time of the issuance of this order, including any regulations prescribed or approved by any of them in respect of such matte's, shall, except as may be inconsistent with the provisions of this order, remain in effect until amended, modified, or revoked pursuant to the authority conferred by this order unless sooner terminated by operation of law.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
Policy Areas & Topics
🏛️
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating 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
"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: Defends Vigor & Dispatch
GM
George Mason
Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment
"The purse and the sword ought never to be in the same hands... nor the liberties of the citizen placed at the pleasure of a single magistrate." — Virginia Ratifying Convention (1788)
George Mason and the Anti-Federalists would sound a fierce warning. They feared that Article II would inevitably evolve into an elective monarchy. When an executive order impacts private rights, property, or civil liberties without individualized judicial process, Mason would see their darkest predictions verified.
Anti-Federalist Stance: High Bill of Rights Scrutiny
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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
35 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8
Low Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
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
Moderate Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.
Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment
Moderate Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
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
Low Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
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
Moderate Friction
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
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
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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
260
1,489 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
16.4
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Jimmy Carter • 1980-05-27
Related Executive Orders
2 orders cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 11609 Jul 22, 1971
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11609—Delegating Certain Functions Vested in the President to Other Officers of the Government
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
General Services Administration. The Administrator of General Services is hereby designated and empowered to exercise, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, the following: (1) The authority of the President under 5 U.S.C. 4111 (b) to prescribe…
Richard Nixon High School • 14m
EO 11541 Jul 1, 1970
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11541—Prescribing the Duties of the Office of Management and Budget and the Domestic Council in the Executive Office of the President
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
All functions transferred to the President of the United States by Part I of the Plan (including the function vested by section 102(f) of designating the officials of the Office of Management and Budget who shall act as Director during the absence or disability of the Deputy…
Richard Nixon Post-Graduate Legal • 2m
EO 11715 Apr 24, 1973
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11715—Amending Executive Order No. 11708, Placing Certain Positions in Levels IV and V of the Executive Schedule
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order No. 11708, dated March 23, 1973, is amended as follows: 1. Section 1 of that order, placing certain positions in level IV of the Executive Schedule, is amended (a) by deleting " (8) Associate Director, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the…
Richard Nixon College Level • 1m
EO 11714 Apr 24, 1973
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11714—Amending Executive Order No. 11652 on Classification and Declassification of National Security Information and Material
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
The second sentence of Section 7(A) of Executive Order No. 11652 of March 8, 1972, is amended to read as follows: "To assist the National Security Council, an Interagency Classification Review Committee shall be established, composed of a Chairman designated by the President…
Richard Nixon Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 11712 Apr 18, 1973
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11712—Special Committee on Energy and National Energy Office
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Three Assistants to the President, John D. Ehrlichman, Henry A. Kissinger, and George P. Shultz, shall constitute a Special Committee on Energy.
Richard Nixon Post-Graduate Legal • 2m
EO 11716 Apr 26, 1973
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11716—Amending Executive Order No. 11157 as it Relates to Incentive Pay for Hazardous Duty
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order No. 11157 of June 22, 1964, as amended, is further amended by substituting for the first paragraph (1) of section 106 (b) the following: "(1) during one calendar month, so serves 48 hours; however, hours served underway in excess of 48 as a member of a submarine…
Richard Nixon Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
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Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 11,713 (Apr. 21, 1973), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11713-delegation-functions-concerning-canal-zone-property.
