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Executive Order 12048 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.23) 📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process

Executive Order 12048—International Communication Agency

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Monday, March 27, 1978
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3 min read (616 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (616 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1977 (42 FR 62461), which establishes the International Communication Agency, except for Section 7(a) (14) thereof, is hereby effective.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Sovereign State Governments & Localities Private Citizens & Property Owners Foreign Nations & International Entities 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 Jimmy Carter on March 27, 1978, this order concerns International Communication Agency. Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1977 (42 FR 62461), which establishes the International Communication Agency, except for Section 7(a) (14) thereof, is hereby effective. (b) Section 7(a)(14) of Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1977, relating to the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Act of 1968, shall be effective on July 1, 1978. 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

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Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1977 (42 FR 62461), which establishes the International Communication Agency, except for Section 7(a) (14) thereof, is hereby effective.

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Section 7(a)(14) of Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1977, relating to the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Act of 1968, shall be effective on July 1, 1978.

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The functions vested in the Secretary of State by Executive Order No. 11312 are assigned and redelegated to the Director of the International Communication Agency.

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In order to ensure appropriate coordination among the Executive agencies, the Director of the International Communication Agency shall exercise primary responsibility for Governmentwide policy guidance for international informational, educational, and cultural activities, including exchange programs.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities 🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions
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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority)
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"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)

Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
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: Supportive of Execution
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
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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
43 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

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

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Moderate Friction

Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

High Friction

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

Due Process & Individual Rights

Low Friction

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

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️ 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%).
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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
616
3,989 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
16.8
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.23
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, including Section 11 of Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1977 (42 FR 62461 (December 13, 1977)), Section 202 of the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950 (31 U.S.C. 581c), and Section 301 of Title 3 of the United States Code, and as President of the United States of America, in order to provide for the establishment of the International Communication Agency, it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. (a) Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1977 (42 FR 62461), which establishes the International Communication Agency, except for Section 7(a) (14) thereof, is hereby effective. (b) Section 7(a)(14) of Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1977, relating to the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Act of 1968, shall be effective on July 1, 1978. SEC. 2. The functions vested in the Secretary of State by Executive Order No. 11312 are assigned and redelegated to the Director of the International Communication Agency. All authority vested in the United States Information Agency or its Director by Executive order is reassigned and redelegated to the International Communication Agency or its Director, respectively. SEC. 3. In order to ensure appropriate coordination among the Executive agencies, the Director of the International Communication Agency shall exercise primary responsibility for Governmentwide policy guidance for international informational, educational, and cultural activities, including exchange programs. The Director shall take into account the statutory functions of the other concerned Executive agencies. SEC. 4. The Director of the International Communication Agency, with the assistance of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, shall prepare and submit to the President the reports which the President is to transmit to the Congress pursuant to Section 108(b) of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, as amended (22 U.S.C. 2458). SEC. 5. The functions vested in the President by Sections 108(c) and 108(d) of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, as amended, are delegated to the Director of the International Communication Agency; because, (a) such a delegation is in the interest of the purposes expressed in that Act and the efficient administration of the programs undertaken pursuant thereto, (b) the Director is an appropriate official to perform those functions, and (c) those functions are not now delegated to any other officer of the Government. SEC. 6. The Director of the International Communication Agency shall be the principal adviser to the President, the National Security Council, and the Secretary of State on international informational, educational, and cultural matters. As such, the Director shall provide advice within the policy formulation activities of the National Security Council when such matters are considered. The Director shall ensure that the senior official of the Agency at each diplomatic mission provides advice to the Chief of Mission on such matters. The scope of the Director's advice shall include assessments of the impact of actual and proposed United States foreign policy decisions on public opinion abroad. SEC. 7. The records, property, personnel, and unexpended balances of appropriations, available or to be made available, which relate to the functions transferred or reassigned, or redelegated as provided in this Order, are hereby transferred to the Director of the International Communication Agency. SEC. 8. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall make such determinations, issue such orders, and take all actions, necessary or appropriate to effectuate the transfers or reassignments provided in this Order, including the transfer of funds, records, property, and personnel. SEC. 9. This Order shall be effective on April 1, 1978. JIMMY CARTER The White House, March 27, 1978. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 1: 14 p.m., March 28, 1978]

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 12,048 (Mar. 27, 1978), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12048-international-communication-agency.