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Executive Order 11753 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.47) 📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process

Executive Order 11753—Establishing the President's Export Council and for Other Purposes

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Thursday, December 20, 1973
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3 min read (667 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (667 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

There is hereby established within the Department of Commerce the President's Export Council, hereinafter referred to as the "Export Council," which shall be composed of a Chairman, a Vice Chairman, and twenty other members representative of business and industry of which eight members shall be selected without regard to geographic considerations and twelve members shall be selected so as to provide appropriate regional representation.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners 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 December 20, 1973, this order concerns Establishing the President's Export Council and for Other Purposes. Establishment of the President's Export Council. (a) There is hereby established within the Department of Commerce the President's Export Council, hereinafter referred to as the "Export Council," which shall be composed of a Chairman, a Vice Chairman, and twenty other members representative of business and industry of which eight members shall be selected without regard to geographic considerations and twelve…

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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There is hereby established within the Department of Commerce the President's Export Council, hereinafter referred to as the "Export Council," which shall be composed of a Chairman, a Vice Chairman, and twenty other members representative of business and industry of which eight members shall be selected without regard to geographic considerations and twelve members shall be selected so as to provide appropriate regional representation.

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The President shall appoint the Chairman, the Vice Chairman, and all other members of the Export Council.

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The Export Council shall serve as a national advisory body to the President on export expansion activities.

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The Secretary, with the concurrence of the Chairman, shall appoint an Executive Secretary for the Export Council.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities

Policy Areas & Topics

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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority)
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"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 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
43 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

High Friction

Touches upon core congressional prerogatives: raises appropriations reallocation, tariff imposition, or statutory preemption questions.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Low Friction

Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

Moderate Friction

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

Due Process & Individual Rights

Moderate Friction

Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.

Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Low Friction

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 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
667
4,370 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
15.7
College Level
Language Tone Score
+0.47
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Establishment of the President's Export Council. (a) There is hereby established within the Department of Commerce the President's Export Council, hereinafter referred to as the "Export Council," which shall be composed of a Chairman, a Vice Chairman, and twenty other members representative of business and industry of which eight members shall be selected without regard to geographic considerations and twelve members shall be selected so as to provide appropriate regional representation. The President shall appoint the Chairman, the Vice Chairman, and all other members of the Export Council. (b) The Export Council shall serve as a national advisory body to the President on export expansion activities. (c) The Secretary of Commerce (hereinafter referred to as the "Secretary") is directed to insure that the recommendations of the Export Council receive appropriate Governmental consideration. (d) The Secretary, with the concurrence of the Chairman, shall appoint an Executive Secretary for the Export Council. SEC. 2. Functions of the Export Council. The Export Council shall, through the Secretary, advise the President, the Council on International Economic Policy (CIEP), and the President's Interagency Committee for Export Expansion (PICEE) on matters relating to export trade. In particular, the Export Council may (1) Identify and examine problems regarding the effects of industrial practices on export trade and the need for industry to improve its export efforts, and recommend solutions to these problems. (2) Survey and evaluate export expansion activities which reflect the ideas of the business community. (3) Provide liaison among members of the business and industrial community on export expansion matters. (4) Encourage the business and industrial community to enter new foreign markets and to expand existing export programs. (5) Advise on plans and actions of the Federal Government involving export expansion policies affecting business and industry. (6) Provide a forum for business and Government on current and emerging problems and issues in the field of export expansion. SEC. 3. Subordinate Committees. The Export Council may establish, with the concurrence of the Secretary, an executive committee and such other subordinate committees as it considers necessary in the performance of its functions. Subordinate committees shall be headed by a chairman selected from the membership by the Chairman of the Export Council with the concurrence of the Secretary. Members of the subordinate committees shall be selected by the Secretary from representatives of business and industry. SEC. 4. Administrative Assistance. As permitted by law and as necessary to carry out the purposes of this order, the Secretary may provide or arrange for administrative and staff services, support, and facilities for the Export Council, including its executive committee and subordinate committees. SEC. 5. Expenses. Members of the Export Council, including its executive committee and subordinate committees, shall receive no compensation from the United States by reason of their services under this order, but may, to the extent permitted by law, be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law (5 U.S.C. 5703) for persons in the Government service employed intermittently. SEC. 6. Federal Advisory Committee Act. The Department of Commerce shall perform such functions with respect to the administration of this order as may be required under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Public Law 92-463; 86 Stat. 770). SEC. 7. Construction. Nothing in this order shall be construed as subjecting any Federal agency, or any function vested by law in, or assigned pursuant to law to, any Federal agency to the authority of any other Federal agency, the Export Council, or its Executive Committee and any of its subordinate committees, or as abrogating or restricting any such function in any manner. SEC. 8. Revocation. The Interagency Committee on Export Expansion is hereby abolished and Executive Order No. 11132 of December 12, 1963, as amended by Executive Order No. 11148 of March 23, 1964, is hereby revoked. RICHARD NIXON The White House, December 20, 1973.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (4)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 11,753 (Dec. 20, 1973), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11753-establishing-the-presidents-export-council-and-for-other-purposes.