By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 1216 (c) of title 10 of the United States Code, and as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, Executive Order No. 10122 of April 14,1950, as amended by Executive Order No. 10400 of September 27, 1952, is further amended as follows: 1. The first proviso of section 5 is deleted. 2. The second proviso of section 5 is amended to read as follows: "Provided, that all the duties, powers, and functions incident to hospitalization for such members or former members who elect to receive hospitalization in uniformed services facilities shall, subject to the availability of space and facilities and the capabilities of the medical and dental staff, be vested in the Secretary concerned: ". 3. The words "Coast and Geodetic Survey" in the last sentence of section 5 and in section 6 are deleted and the words "National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (formerly Coast and Geodetic Survey)" are substituted therefor. RICHARD NIXON The White House, July 30, 1973.
Executive Order 11733 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 11733—Further Amending Executive Order No. 10122 of April 14, 1950, Entitled "Regulations Governing Payment of Disability Retirement Pay Hospitalization, and Re-Examination of Members and Former Members of the Uniformed Services"
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (179 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
Executive Order No. 10122 of April 14,1950, as amended by Executive Order No. 10400 of September 27, 1952, is further amended as follows: 1.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Public Health & Medical Institutions
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 July 30, 1973, this order concerns Further Amending Executive Order No. 10122 of April 14, 1950, Entitled "Regulations Governing Payment of Disability Retirement Pay Hospitalization, and Re-Examination of Members and Former Members of the Uniformed Services". Executive Order No. 10122 of April 14,1950, as amended by Executive Order No. 10400 of September 27, 1952, is further amended as follows: 1. The first proviso of section 5 is deleted. 2. The second proviso of section 5 is amended to read as follows: "Provided, that all the duties, powers, and functions incident to hospitalization for such members or former members who elect to receive hospitalization in uniformed…
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
▪
Executive Order No. 10122 of April 14,1950, as amended by Executive Order No. 10400 of September 27, 1952, is further amended as follows: 1.
▪
The second proviso of section 5 is amended to read as follows: "Provided, that all the duties, powers, and functions incident to hospitalization for such members or former members who elect to receive hospitalization in uniformed services facilities shall, subject to the availability of space and facilities and the capabilities of the medical and dental staff, be vested in the Secretary concerned: ". 3.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises
🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions
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
"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
37 / 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
High Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Creates friction with the Tenth Amendment by conditioning state grants, mandating local compliance, or preempting state police powers.
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
⚖️
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%).
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
179
1,069 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
14.8
College Level
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
2 orders cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 10122 Apr 14, 1950
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Fidelity (+0.33)
Executive Order 10122—Regulations Governing Payment of Disability Retirement Pay, Hospitalization, and Re-Examination of Members and Former Members of the Uniformed Services
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
I hereby prescribe the following regulations governing payment of disability retirement pay, hospitalization, and re-examination of members and former members of the uniformed services: SECTION 1.
Harry S Truman Post-Graduate Legal • 4m
EO 10400 Sep 27, 1952
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 10400—Amending Executive Order No. 10122 of April 14, 1950, Entitled "Regulations Governing Payment of Disability Retirement Pay, Hospitalization, and Re-Examination of Members and Former Members of the Uniformed Services"
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
I hereby amend Executive Order No. 10122 of April 14, 1950, entitled "Regulations Governing Payment of Disability Retirement Pay, Hospitalization and Re-examination of Members and Former Members of the Uniformed Services", as follows, such amendments to be effective October 15…
Harry S Truman Post-Graduate Legal • 2m
EO 11734 Jul 30, 1973
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11734—Revising the Membership of the President's Committee on the National Medal of Science
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, subsection (c) of Section 2 of Executive Order No. 11287 of June 28, 1966, as amended, is hereby amended by deleting "(1) The President's Science Adviser," and by inserting in lieu thereof "(1) The…
Richard Nixon High School • 1m
EO 11732 Jul 30, 1973
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11732—Delegating Certain Authority of the President to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is hereby designated and empowered to exercise, without approval, ratification, or other action by the President, the functions vested in the President by sections 305 and 301 of the National Housing Act, as amended (12 U.S.C. 1720…
Richard Nixon Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 11735 Aug 3, 1973
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11735—Assignment of Functions Under Section 311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as Amended
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 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…
Richard Nixon Post-Graduate Legal • 6m
EO 11736 Aug 6, 1973
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11736—Amending Executive Order No. 11708, Placing Certain Positions in Levels IV and V of the Executive Schedule
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Executive Order No. 11708, dated March 23, 1973, as amended, is further amended as follows: 1. Section 1 of that order, placing certain positions in level IV of the Executive Schedule, is amended (a) by deleting "(2) Administrator, National Institutes of Health, Department of…
Richard Nixon Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 11,733 (July 30, 1973), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11733-further-amending-executive-order-no-10122-april-14-1950-entitled.
