The International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTELSAT) was established pursuant to the Agreement Relating to the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTELSAT), which entered into force February 12, 1973, and the Operating Agreement signed pursuant thereto, TIAS 7532. The United States participates in the Organization pursuant to the authority of the Communications Satellite Act of 1962 (76 Stat. 419; 47 U.S.C. 701-744). Now, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act (59 Stat. 669; 22 U.S.C. 288), it is ordered as follows: SECTION 1. (a) I hereby designate the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTEL SAT) as an international organization, as that term is defined in section 4(i) of the International Organizations Immunities Act, entitled to enjoy, on and after February 12, 1973, all of the privileges, exemptions, and immunities provided by section 2 (a) and (d) and section 4 (a), (c), (d), (e), and (f) of that act. (b) The foregoing designation is not intended to abridge in any respect any privileges, exemptions, or immunities which such organization may have acquired or may hereafter acquire by treaty, Congressional action, or other Executive order. SEC. 2. The representatives to the Board of Governors of INTELSAT and their alternates shall enjoy the same privileges, exemptions, and immunities that the representatives to the Interim Communications Satellite Committee and their alternates enjoyed pursuant to Executive Order No. 11227 of June 2,1965. SEC. 3. Executive Order No. 11227 of June 2, 1965 (except for the purpose referred to in section 2 hereof), and Executive Order No. 11277 of April 30, 1966, are hereby revoked. RICHARD NIXON The White House, May 14, 1973.
Executive Order 11718 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Executive Order 11718—Designating the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTELSAT) as an International Organization Entitled to Enjoy Certain Privileges, Exemptions, and Immunities
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (275 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
I hereby designate the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTEL SAT) as an international organization, as that term is defined in section 4(i) of the International Organizations Immunities Act, entitled to enjoy, on and after February 12, 1973, all of the privileges, exemptions, and immunities provided by section 2 (a) and (d) and section 4 (a), (c), (d), (e), and (f) of that act.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Sovereign State Governments & Localities Foreign Nations & International Entities
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 May 14, 1973, this order concerns Designating the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTELSAT) as an International Organization Entitled to Enjoy Certain Privileges, Exemptions, and Immunities. I hereby designate the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTEL SAT) as an international organization, as that term is defined in section 4(i) of the International Organizations Immunities Act, entitled to enjoy, on and after February 12, 1973, all of the privileges, exemptions, and immunities provided by section 2 (a) and (d) and section 4 (a), (c), (d), (e), and (f) of that act.
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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I hereby designate the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTEL SAT) as an international organization, as that term is defined in section 4(i) of the International Organizations Immunities Act, entitled to enjoy, on and after February 12, 1973, all of the privileges, exemptions, and immunities provided by section 2 (a) and (d) and section 4 (a), (c), (d), (e), and (f) of that act.
▪
The representatives to the Board of Governors of INTELSAT and their alternates shall enjoy the same privileges, exemptions, and immunities that the representatives to the Interim Communications Satellite Committee and their alternates enjoyed pursuant to Executive Order No. 11227 of June 2,1965.
▪
Executive Order No. 11227 of June 2, 1965 (except for the purpose referred to in section 2 hereof), and Executive Order No. 11277 of April 30, 1966, are hereby revoked.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities
🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities
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 1 (Maximum Authority)
§
"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
📐
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
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
Low Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
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
Low Friction
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
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%).
ℹ️
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
275
1,824 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
14.8
College Level
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.
Gerald R. Ford • 1977-01-19
Related Executive Orders
2 orders cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 11227 Jun 2, 1965
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11227—Designating the Interim Communications Satellite Committee as a Public International Organization Entitled to Enjoy Certain Privileges, Exemptions, and Immunities
📜 Art. II §2: Diplomatic & Foreign Policy Prerogative
I hereby designate the Interim Communications Satellite Committee as a public international organization entitled to enjoy the privileges, exemptions, and immunities conferred by the International Organizations Immunities Act, with the following exceptions: 1.
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 11277 Apr 30, 1966
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11277—Designating the International Telecommunications Satellite Consortium as an International Organization Entitled to Enjoy Certain Privileges, Exemptions, and Immunities
📜 Art. II §2: Diplomatic & Foreign Policy Prerogative
I hereby designate the International Telecommunications Satellite Consortium, an organization in which the United States participates pursuant to the authority of the Communications Satellite Act of 1962 (76 Stat. 419; 47 U.S.C. 701-744) and which was established pursuant to…
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 11720 May 17, 1973
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11720—Inspection of Income, Excess-Profits, Estate, Gift, and Excise Tax Returns by the Senate Committee on Commerce
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Any income, excess-profits, estate, gift, or excise tax return for the years 1939 to 1974, inclusive, shall, during the Ninety-third Congress, be open to inspection by the Senate Committee on Commerce, or any duly authorized subcommittee thereof, in connection with its…
Richard Nixon College Level • 1m
EO 11719 May 17, 1973
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11719—Inspection of Income, Estate, and Gift Tax Returns by the Committee on Public Works, House of Representatives
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Any income, estate, or gift tax return for the years 1960 to 1974, inclusive, shall, during the Ninety-third Congress, be open to inspection by the Committee on Public Works, House of Representatives, or any duly authorized subcommittee thereof, in connection with its…
Richard Nixon Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 11717 May 9, 1973
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11717—Transferring Certain Functions from the Office of Management and Budget to the General Services Administration and the Department of Commerce
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
There are hereby transferred to the Administrator of General Services all functions that were being performed in the Office of Management and Budget on April 13, 1973 by: (1) the Financial Management Branch, the Procurement and Property Management Branch, and the Management…
Richard Nixon Post-Graduate Legal • 3m
EO 11721 May 23, 1973
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11721—Providing for Federal Pay Administration
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
PART I—GENERAL POLICY SECTION 101. Heads of agencies are directed: (a) To make full use of the authorities in chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, and the statutory pay systems to which section 5301 of that chapter refers to secure and maintain the high quality of Federal…
Richard Nixon Post-Graduate Legal • 6m
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Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 11,718 (May 14, 1973), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11718-designating-the-international-telecommunications-satellite.
