By virtue of the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and Statutes of the United States, particularly by section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code, the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended, the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921, as amended, the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950, as amended, Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1970; and section 5317 of title 5 of the United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. 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 19, 1975. SEC. 2. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall continue to perform policy formulation and general oversight functions with regard to the other transfers made by Executive Order No. 11717 and Executive Order No. 11867. No function vested by statute in the Administrator shall be deemed to be affected by the provisions of this order. SEC. 3. So much of the personnel, property and records attendant to the functions transferred by this order as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall determine, shall be transferred to the Office of Management and Budget, at such times as the Director shall specify. SEC. 4. Executive Order No. 11717 of May 9, 1973, and Executive Order No. 11867 of June 19, 1975, are hereby superseded to the extent that they are inconsistent with this order. Any circulars, directives, or regulations issued pursuant to functions transferred by this order shall remain in effect until modified or rescinded by the Office of Management and Budget. SEC. 5. Section 2 of Executive Order No. 11861 of May 21, 1975, as amended, placing certain positions in level V of the Executive Schedule, is further amended by deleting "(9) Associate Administrator for Federal Management Policy, General Services Administration.". SEC. 6. This order shall be effective as of December 31, 1975. GERALD R. FORD The White House, December 31, 1975.
Executive Order 11893 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
Executive Order 11893—Transferring Certain Functions From the General Services Administration to the Office of Management and Budget
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (360 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
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 19, 1975.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Branch Departments General Body of the People
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 Transferring Certain Functions From the General Services Administration to the Office of Management and Budget. 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 19, 1975. SEC. 2.
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
▪
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 19, 1975.
▪
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall continue to perform policy formulation and general oversight functions with regard to the other transfers made by Executive Order No. 11717 and Executive Order No. 11867.
▪
No function vested by statute in the Administrator shall be deemed to be affected by the provisions of this order.
▪
So much of the personnel, property and records attendant to the functions transferred by this order as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall determine, shall be transferred to the Office of Management and Budget, at such times as the Director shall specify.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Executive Branch Departments
🏛️ General Body of the People
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 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
📐
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
360
2,162 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
12.7
High School
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
3 orders cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
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 11867 Jun 19, 1975
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11867—Delegating to the Administrator of General Services Authority to Issue Joint Funding Regulations
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The Administrator of General Services is designated and empowered to exercise, without approval, ratification, or other action by the President, the functions vested in the President by Sections 3, 5, 7, and 10 of the joint Funding Simplification Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-510…
Gerald R. Ford High School • 3m
EO 11861 May 21, 1975
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11861—Placing Certain Positions in Levels IV and V of the Executive Schedule
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
The following offices and positions are placed in level IV of the Executive Schedule: (1) Administrator, Social and Rehabilitation Service, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. (2) Director, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
Gerald R. Ford College Level • 2m
EO 11892 Dec 31, 1975
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11892—Amending Executive Order No. 11746 Relating to Federal Regional Councils
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
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.
Gerald R. Ford High School • 3m
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
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 11,893 (Dec. 31, 1975), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11893-transferring-certain-functions-from-the-general-services.
