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, and in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. I), it is Hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Each advisory committee listed below is hereby continued until December 31, 1978: (a) Citizens' Advisory Council on the Status of Women - Executive Order No. 11126, as amended (Department of Labor). (b) Committee for the Preservation of the White House - Executive Order No. 11145, as amended (Department of the Interior). (c) President's Commission on White House Fellowships - Executive Order No. 11183, as amended (United States Civil Service Commission). (d) President's Committee on the National Medal of Science - Executive Order No. 11287, as amended (National Science Foundation). (e) Quetico-Superior Committee - Executive Order No. 11342, as amended (Department of Agriculture). (f) National Health Resources Advisory Committee - Executive Order No. 11415, as amended (General Services Administration). (g) Citizens' Advisory Committee on Environmental Quality - Executive Order No. 11472, as amended (Council on Environmental Quality). (h) President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports - Executive Order No. 11562, as amended (Department of Health, Education, and Welfare). (i) Consumer Advisory Council - Executive Order No. 11583, as amended (Department of Health, Education, and Welfare). (j) Advisory Council for Minority Enterprise - Executive Order No. 11625 of October 13, (Department of Commerce). (k) President's Export Council - Executive Order No. 11753 of December 20, 1973 (Department of Commerce). (l) President's Committee on Mental Retardation - Executive Order No. 11776 of March 28, 1974 (Department of Health, Education, and Welfare). (m) Federal Advisory Council on Occupational Safety and Health - Executive Order No. 11807 of September 28, 1974 (Department of Labor). SEC. 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other Executive order, the Functions of the President under the Federal Advisory Committee Act which are applicable to the committees listed in Section 1 of this order, except that of reporting annually to Congress, shall be performed by the head of the department or agency designated after each committee in accordance with guidelines and procedures established by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. SEC. 3. Executive Order No. 11868, as amended, establishing the President's Commission on Olympic Sports, is revoked effective January 16, 1977. SEC. 4 (a) The following Executive orders are revoked: (1) Executive Order No. 11667 of April 19, 1972, establishing the President's Advisory Committee on the Environmental Awards Merit Program. (2) Executive Order No. 11809 of September 30, 1974, establishing the President's Labor Management Committee. (3) Executive Order No. 11860 of May 19, 1975, establishing the President's Advisory Committee on Refugees. (c) Executive Order No. 11827, as amended, is superseded. SEC. 5. This order shall be effective December 31, 1976. GERALD R. FORD The White House, December 20, 1975.
Executive Order 11948 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
Executive Order 11948—Continuance of Certain Federal Advisory Committees
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (483 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
Each advisory committee listed below is hereby continued until December 31, 1978: (a) Citizens' Advisory Council on the Status of Women - Executive Order No. 11126, as amended (Department of Labor).
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners 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 20, 1976, this order concerns Continuance of Certain Federal Advisory Committees. Each advisory committee listed below is hereby continued until December 31, 1978: (a) Citizens' Advisory Council on the Status of Women - Executive Order No. 11126, as amended (Department of Labor). (b) Committee for the Preservation of the White House - Executive Order No. 11145, as amended (Department of the Interior).
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
▪
Each advisory committee listed below is hereby continued until December 31, 1978: (a) Citizens' Advisory Council on the Status of Women - Executive Order No. 11126, as amended (Department of Labor).
▪
Committee for the Preservation of the White House - Executive Order No. 11145, as amended (Department of the Interior).
▪
President's Commission on White House Fellowships - Executive Order No. 11183, as amended (United States Civil Service Commission).
▪
President's Committee on the National Medal of Science - Executive Order No. 11287, as amended (National Science Foundation).
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
🏛️ 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
39 / 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
Moderate Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
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
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
483
3,190 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
12
High School
Text size:
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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (2)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Jimmy Carter • 1977-12-14
Jimmy Carter • 1977-08-22
Related Executive Orders
18 orders cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 11126 Nov 1, 1963
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11126—Establishing a Committee and a Council Relating to the Status of Women
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
PART I--INTERDEPARTMENTAL C0MMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN SECTION 101. (a) There is hereby established the interdepartmental Committee on the Status of Women (hereinafter referred to as the "Committee"), which shall be composed of the Secretary of Labor, who shall be the…
John F. Kennedy Post-Graduate Legal • 4m
EO 11145 Mar 7, 1964
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11145—Providing for a Curator of the White House and Establishing a Committee for the Preservation of the White House
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
There shall be in the White House a Curator of the White House. The Curator shall assist in the preservation and protection of the articles of furniture, fixtures, and decorative objects used or displayed in the principal corridor on the ground floor and the principal public…
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 3m
EO 11183 Oct 3, 1964
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11183—Establishing the President's Commission on White House Fellowships
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
There is hereby established the President's Commission on White House Fellowships, hereinafter referred to as the Commission. The Commission shall consist of such outstanding citizens from the fields of public affairs, education, the sciences, the professions, other fields of…
Lyndon B. Johnson College Level • 3m
EO 11287 Amended Jun 28, 1966
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11287—Award and Presentation of the National Medal of Science
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
Award of Medal. (a) The President shall award the National Medal of Science (hereinafter referred to as the Medal) established by the Act, the specifications of which are prescribed by Executive Order No. 10910 of January 17, 1961, as amended, on the basis of recommendations…
Lyndon B. Johnson College Level • 6m
EO 11342 Apr 10, 1967
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11342—The Quetico-Superior Committee
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
Establishment of the Committee. There is hereby established a committee which shall be known as the Quetico-Superior Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Committee). SEC. 2. Composition of the Committee.
Lyndon B. Johnson High School • 3m
EO 11415 Jun 24, 1968
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11415—Reconstituting the National Advisory Committee on the Selection of Physicians, Dentists, and Allied Specialists and the Health Resources Advisory Committee
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
There is hereby established the National Advisory Committee on the Selection of Physicians, Dentists, and Allied Specialists, which shall be composed of such members as may be appointed by the President pursuant to section 3 of this order.
Lyndon B. Johnson Post-Graduate Legal • 4m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 11,948 (Dec. 20, 1976), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11948-continuance-certain-federal-advisory-committees.
