By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States of America, by the Constitution and laws of the United States, particularly Section 108 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, Section 2 of Executive Order No. 11814 of October 11, 1974, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: SEC. 2. The Council shall consist of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Transportation, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, the Administrator of the Federal Energy Administration, the Administrator of the Energy Research and Development Administration, the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, the Director of the National Science Foundation, the Administrator of General Services, the Chairman of the Federal Power Commission, the Assistant to the President for National security affairs, the Assistant to the President for Economic Affairs, the Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs, the Special Assistant to the President for Consumer Affairs, and such other members as the President may, from time to time, designate. The Chairman shall be designated by the President. GERALD R. FORD The White House, May 1, 1975.
Executive Order 11855 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 11855—Membership of the Energy Resources Council
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (247 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
Of Executive Order No. 11814 of October 11, 1974, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: SEC. 2.
⚖️ 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 Sovereign State Governments & Localities Public Health & Medical Institutions Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Gerald R. Ford on May 1, 1975, this order concerns Membership of the Energy Resources Council. Section 2 of Executive Order No. 11814 of October 11, 1974, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: SEC. 2. The Council shall consist of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Secretary of Housing and…
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
▪
Of Executive Order No. 11814 of October 11, 1974, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: SEC. 2.
▪
The Council shall consist of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Transportation, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, the Administrator of the Federal Energy Administration, the Administrator of the Energy Research and Development Administration, the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, the…
▪
The Chairman shall be designated by the President.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities
🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions
🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
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
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
⚖️
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
247
1,600 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
26.6
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
1 order cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 11814 Oct 11, 1974
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Fidelity (+0.29)
Executive Order 11814—Activation of the Energy Resources Council
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
In my address to the Congress on October 8, 1974, I expressed my intention to create a new National Energy Board, under the chairmanship of the Secretary of the Interior, to develop, coordinate, and assure the implementation of Federal energy policy.
Gerald R. Ford Post-Graduate Legal • 3m
EO 11859 May 7, 1975
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11859—Inspection of Income, Estate, and Gift Tax Returns by the Senate Committee on Government Operations
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Any income, estate, or gift tax return for the years 1955 to 1975, inclusive, shall, subject to the conditions imposed herein, during the Ninety-fourth Congress, be open to inspection by the Senate Committee on Government Operations or any duly authorized subcommittee thereof…
Gerald R. Ford Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 11858 Amended May 7, 1975
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Fidelity (+0.29)
Executive Order 11858—Foreign Investment in the United States
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
There is hereby established the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (hereinafter referred to as the Committee). The Committee shall be composed of a representative, whose status is not below that of an Assistant Secretary, designated by each of the following…
Gerald R. Ford Post-Graduate Legal • 4m
EO 11857 May 7, 1975
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11857—Amending Executive Order Nos. 11803, 11837, and 11842 to Provide Authority to Increase the Number of Members of the Presidential Clemency Board
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Of Executive Order No. 11803 of September 16, 1974, is hereby amended as follows: By adding the following at the end of the last sentence, "The President may appoint such additional members to the board as he shall from time to time determine to be necessary to carry out its…
Gerald R. Ford College Level • 1m
EO 11856 May 7, 1975
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11856—Amending the Civil Service Rules to Except Certain Positions From the Career Service
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
Section 9.11 of Civil Service Rule IX is amended by adding "and the Small Business Administration" after "Environmental Protection Agency."
Gerald R. Ford High School • 1m
EO 11854 Apr 24, 1975
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11854—Waiver Under the Trade Act of 1974 With Respect to the Socialist Republic of Romania
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
I hereby waive the application of subsections (a) and (b) of section 402 of said Act with respect to the Socialist Republic of Romania.
Gerald R. Ford High School • 1m
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Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 11,855 (May 1, 1975), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11855-membership-the-energy-resources-council.
