By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the United States of America, and as President of the United States of America, in order to include the Department of Commerce and the Federal Energy Administration in the Regional Council System and thus expand interagency cooperation and improve the coordination of services to the States, consistent with Section 401(d) of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of 1968 (82 Stat. 1103, 42 U.S.C. 4231(d)), it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Subsection (a) of Section 1 of Executive Order No. 11647 of February 10, 1972, as amended by Executive Order No. 11731 of July 23, 1973, is amended to read as follows: "(a) There is hereby continued a Federal Regional Council for each of the ten standard Federal regions. The President shall designate one member of each Council as Chairman. Representatives of the Office of Management and Budget may participate in any deliberations of each Council. Each Council shall be composed of the principal regional officials of the following departments and agencies: (1) The Department of the Interior. (2) The Department of Agriculture. (3) The Department of Commerce. (4) The Department of Labor. (5) The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. (6) The Department of Housing and Urban Development. (7) The Department of Transportation. (8) The Community Services Administration. (9) The Environmental Protection Agency. (10) The Federal Energy Administration. (11) The Law Enforcement Assistance Administration.". SEC. 2. Section 3 of Executive Order No. 11647 of February 10, 1972, as amended by Executive Order No. 11731 of July 23, 1973, is amended to read as follows: "Sec. 3. Under Secretaries Group for Regional Operations. (a) The Under Secretaries Group for Regional Operations is hereby continued and shall be composed of the following: (1) The Under Secretary of the Interior. (2) The Under Secretary of Agriculture. (3) The Under Secretary of Commerce. (4) The Under Secretary of Labor. (5) The Under Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. (6) The Under Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. (7) The Deputy Secretary of Transportation. (8) The Deputy Director of the Community Services Administration. (9) The Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. (10) The Deputy Administrator of the Federal Energy Administration. (11) The Administrator of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration. (12) An Associate Director of the Domestic Council. (13) The Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, who shall be Chairman. "(b) When the Chairman determines that matters which significantly affect the interests of a Federal agency not represented on the Group are to be considered by the Group, he shall invite an appropriate representative of the agency involved to participate in the deliberations of the Group. "(c) The Under Secretaries Group for Regional Operations shall, consistent with the objectives and priorities established by the President and the Domestic Council, establish policy with respect to Federal Regional Council matters provide guidance to the Council, respond to their initiatives, and seek to resolve policy issues referred to it by the Councils. The Under Secretaries Group, under the Chairmanship of the Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall be responsible for the proper functioning of the system established by this Order." GERALD R. FORD The White House, December 31, 1975.
Executive Order 11892 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order 11892—Amending Executive Order No. 11746 Relating to Federal Regional Councils
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 3 min read (543 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
Subsection (a) of Section 1 of Executive Order No. 11647 of February 10, 1972, as amended by Executive Order No. 11731 of July 23, 1973, is amended to read as follows: "(a) There is hereby continued a Federal Regional Council for each of the ten standard Federal regions.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 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 Gerald R. Ford on December 31, 1975, this order concerns Amending Executive Order No. 11746 Relating to Federal Regional Councils. Subsection (a) of Section 1 of Executive Order No. 11647 of February 10, 1972, as amended by Executive Order No. 11731 of July 23, 1973, is amended to read as follows: "(a) There is hereby continued a Federal Regional Council for each of the ten standard Federal regions. The President shall designate one member of each Council as Chairman.
Constitutional Assessment: This action represents an orderly exercise of Article II administrative discretion, managing the internal machinery and personnel of the executive branch without abridging the ancient liberties of the people.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
▪
Subsection (a) of Section 1 of Executive Order No. 11647 of February 10, 1972, as amended by Executive Order No. 11731 of July 23, 1973, is amended to read as follows: "(a) There is hereby continued a Federal Regional Council for each of the ten standard Federal regions.
▪
The President shall designate one member of each Council as Chairman.
▪
Each Council shall be composed of the principal regional officials of the following departments and agencies: (1) The Department of the Interior.
▪
Of Executive Order No. 11647 of February 10, 1972, as amended by Executive Order No. 11731 of July 23, 1973, is amended to read as follows: "Sec. 3.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
🏛️ 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
"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 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
📐
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
50 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8
Moderate Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.
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
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
543
3,511 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
11.9
High School
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
2 orders cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 11647 Feb 10, 1972
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Fidelity (+0.33)
Executive Order 11647—Federal Regional Councils
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
The proper functioning of Government requires the development of closer working relationships between major Federal grantmaking agencies and State and local government and improved coordination of the categorical grant system.
Richard Nixon Post-Graduate Legal • 4m
EO 11731 Jul 23, 1973
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11731—Amending Executive Order No. 11647 Relating to Federal Regional Councils
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
On February 10, 1972, I formally established Federal Regional Councils for each of the ten Federal regions, and established an Under Secretaries Group for Regional Operations to strengthen and improve services to the public at the regional level.
Richard Nixon Post-Graduate Legal • 4m
EO 11893 Dec 31, 1975
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11893—Transferring Certain Functions From the General Services Administration to the Office of Management and Budget
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
There are hereby transferred to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget all policy functions that were transferred to the Administrator of General Services by Section 1 (1) of Executive Order No. 11717, dated May 9, 1973, and Executive Order No. 11867, dated June…
Gerald R. Ford High School • 2m
EO 11894 Jan 3, 1976
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11894—Adding to the Membership of the East-West Foreign Trade Board
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
The Secretary of Defense is added as a member of the East-West Foreign Trade Board and the list of ex officio members of the East West Foreign Trade Board set forth in Section 7 (a) of Executive Order No. 11846 of March 27, 1975, is accordingly amended to read as follows: "(1)…
Gerald R. Ford Grade 8 • 1m
EO 11895 Jan 6, 1976
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11895—Delegating Authority of the President to Designate Individuals Appointed by the President to Receive Training
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
Except as provided in Section 2 of this Order, the United States Civil Service Commission is hereby designated and empowered to exercise the authority vested in the President by Section 4102(a) (2) (B) of Title 5, United States Code, to designate individuals appointed by the…
Gerald R. Ford College Level • 1m
EO 11897 Jan 13, 1976
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11897—Amending Executive Order No. 11157 as It Relates to Special Pay While on Sea Duty or Duty at Certain Places
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 305(a) of title 37 of the United States Code, and as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, part H of Executive Order No. 11157 of June 22, 1964, as amended, is hereby…
Gerald R. Ford Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 11,892 (Dec. 31, 1975), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11892-amending-executive-order-no-11746-relating-federal-regional-councils.
