ESTABLISHING THE INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE FOR THE PURCHASE OF UNITED STATES SAVINGS BONDS 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, it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. (a) There is hereby established the Interagency Committee for the Purchase of United States Savings Bonds (hereinafter referred to as the Committee). The Committee shall consist of a Chairman, who is to be appointed by the President for a term of two years, and the heads of Federal agencies. Each member of the Committee is responsible for the success of the Payroll Savings Program in his agency. (b) Members of the Committee may designate an alternate, who shall serve as a member of the Committee whenever the regular member is unable to attend any meeting of the Committee. The alternate member may be authorized to act for the regular member in all appropriate matters relating to the Committee. In the case of an executive or military department, a Deputy Secretary or an Under Secretary may be designated as an alternate member. In the case of any other Federal agency, the alternate member shall be designated from among the officials thereof of appropriate rank. (c) The Chairman will designate the Federal Payroll Savings Officer of the Savings Bonds Division, Department of the Treasury, to act as his liaison officer with members of the Committee. SEC. 2. The Committee shall perform the following functions and duties: (a) Formulating and presenting to the Federal agencies a plan of organization and sales promotion whereby the Payroll Savings Plan and Military Bond Allotment Plan, hereinafter referred to as the Plans, will be made available to all uniformed and civilian personnel of the government for the purchase of Savings Bonds, and whereby all such personnel will be urged to participate. (b) Assisting the Federal agencies in installing the Plans and in solving any special problems that may develop in connection therewith. (c) Acting as a clearinghouse for Federal agencies in compiling and disseminatins such statistics and information with respect to the implementation and sales promotion of the Plans as may be appropriate. (d) Recommending to the Federal agencies any methods for improvements in the program adopted pursuant to the Plans. (e) The Committee will meet, and will be available to meet with the President, at least once each calendar year and at such other times as may be necessary to carry out its responsibilities. SEC. 3. Each Federal agency shall institute and put into operation, as soon as practicable, a plan of organization and sales promotion recommended by the Committee, with such modifications as particular circumstances may render advisable. SEC. 4. As used in this Order, the term "Federal agencies" means departments, agencies, and establishments of the Executive branch of the Government. SEC. 5. This Order supersedes Executive Order No. 11532 of June 2, 1970. JIMMY CARTER The White House, March 29, 1977. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 4:15 p.m., March 29, 1977]
Executive Order 11981 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 11981—Interagency Committee for the Purchase of United States Savings Bonds
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 3 min read (508 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
There is hereby established the Interagency Committee for the Purchase of United States Savings Bonds (hereinafter referred to as the Committee).
⚖️ 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 Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 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 Jimmy Carter on March 29, 1977, this order concerns Interagency Committee for the Purchase of United States Savings Bonds. There is hereby established the Interagency Committee for the Purchase of United States Savings Bonds (hereinafter referred to as the Committee). The Committee shall consist of a Chairman, who is to be appointed by the President for a term of two years, and the heads of Federal agencies. Each member of the Committee is responsible for the success of the Payroll Savings Program in his agency.
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
▪
There is hereby established the Interagency Committee for the Purchase of United States Savings Bonds (hereinafter referred to as the Committee).
▪
The Committee shall consist of a Chairman, who is to be appointed by the President for a term of two years, and the heads of Federal agencies.
▪
Members of the Committee may designate an alternate, who shall serve as a member of the Committee whenever the regular member is unable to attend any meeting of the Committee.
▪
The alternate member may be authorized to act for the regular member in all appropriate matters relating to the Committee.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
🏛️ 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
📐
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
42 / 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
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
508
3,131 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
14.5
College Level
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
1 order cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 11532 Jun 2, 1970
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11532—Establishing the Interdepartmental Committee for (the) Voluntary Payroll Savings Plan for the Purchase of United States Savings Bonds
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
There is hereby established the Inter-departmental Committee for the Voluntary Payroll Savings Plan for the Purchase of United States Savings Bonds (hereinafter referred to as the Committee).
Richard Nixon Post-Graduate Legal • 3m
EO 11980 Mar 29, 1977
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11980—National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year, 1975
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
(b) of Executive Order No. 11832, as amended, is further amended by substituting "42 members to be appointed" for "45 members to be appointed".
Jimmy Carter High School • 1m
EO 11979 Mar 28, 1977
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11979—National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year, 1975
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
(b) of Executive Order No. 11832, as amended by Executive Order No. 11889, is amended to read as follows: "(b) The Commission shall consist of not more than 45 members to be appointed by the President from among citizens in private life, except that not more than 10 members may…
Jimmy Carter High School • 1m
EO 11978 Mar 18, 1977
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11978—Trade Involving Southern Rhodesia
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
By virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 5 of the United Nations Participation Act of 1945, as amended (22 U.S.C. 287c), and Section 301 of Title 3 of the United States Code, and as President of the United States of America, Section 4 of Executive Order No. 11419 of…
Jimmy Carter High School • 1m
EO 11977 Mar 14, 1977
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11977—Public International Organizations
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
The African Development Fund, in which the United States participates pursuant to Section 202 of the Act of May 31, 1976 (90 Stat. 593, 22 U.S.C. 290g) and the Agreement Establishing the African Development Fund, is hereby designated as a public international organization…
Jimmy Carter College Level • 2m
EO 11976 Mar 11, 1977
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11976—Executive Schedule
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Of Executive Odder No. 11861, as amended, placing certain positions in level IV of the Executive Schedule, is further amended by adding thereto "(17) Director of Agricultural Economics, Department of Agriculture." and "(18) Assistant to the Secretary for Legislative Affairs…
Jimmy Carter High School • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 11,981 (Mar. 29, 1977), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11981-interagency-committee-for-the-purchase-united-states-savings-bonds.
