By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and statutes of the United States of America, and in order to provide for an orderly implementation of the independent review of Federal water resource programs and projects, subsections (b) and (c) of Section 1-105 of Executive Order No. 12113 of January 4, 1979, are hereby amended to read as follows: "(b) After October 1, 1979, an agency shall not submit to the Council, during any calendar quarter, more than one-third of the total reports, proposals, and plans scheduled for review during any one fiscal year. "(c) The Chairman of the Council, or his designee, shall transmit the results of the impartial technical review to the appropriate agency head The transmittal shall include identification of any specific variations from Council approved procedures and manuals and the steps necessary to bring the plan into conformance. The results of the review shall be transmitted to the agency head within 60 days of the agency's submission of the report, proposal, or plan provided that funds and other resources have been made available for the review.". JIMMY CARTER The White House, June 5, 1979. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 2:56 p.m., June 5, 1979]
Executive Order 12141 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order 12141—Independent Water Project Review
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (204 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
"(b) After October 1, 1979, an agency shall not submit to the Council, during any calendar quarter, more than one-third of the total reports, proposals, and plans scheduled for review during any one fiscal year.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
🏛️ 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 Jimmy Carter on June 5, 1979, this order concerns Independent Water Project Review. By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and statutes of the United States of America, and in order to provide for an orderly implementation of the independent review of Federal water resource programs and projects, subsections (b) and (c) of Section 1-105 of Executive Order No. 12113 of January 4, 1979, are hereby amended to read as follows: "(b) After October 1, 1979, an agency shall not…
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
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"(b) After October 1, 1979, an agency shall not submit to the Council, during any calendar quarter, more than one-third of the total reports, proposals, and plans scheduled for review during any one fiscal year.
▪
"(c) The Chairman of the Council, or his designee, shall transmit the results of the impartial technical review to the appropriate agency head The transmittal shall include identification of any specific variations from Council approved procedures and manuals and the steps necessary to bring the plan into conformance.
▪
The results of the review shall be transmitted to the agency head within 60 days of the agency's submission of the report, proposal, or plan provided that funds and other resources have been made available for the review.".
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 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
43 / 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
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
204
1,239 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
15.7
College Level
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
1 order cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 12113 Jan 4, 1979
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12113—Independent Water Project Review
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
1-101. The Water Resources Council shall ensure that it has established a current set of principles, standards, and procedures for Federal participants in the preparation of comprehensive regional or river basin plans and for the formulation and evaluation of Federal water and…
Jimmy Carter Post-Graduate Legal • 4m
EO 12140 May 29, 1979
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12140—Gasoline End-User Allocation
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Each Governor is hereby delegated the authority to establish a system of end-user allocation for motor gasoline, subject to the terms and conditions as set forth below. SEC. 1-102.
Jimmy Carter Post-Graduate Legal • 3m
EO 12139 Amended May 23, 1979
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12139—Foreign Intelligence Electronic Surveillance
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
1-101. Pursuant to Section 102(a) (1) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1802(a) ), the Attorney General is authorized to approve electronic surveillance to acquire foreign intelligence information without a court order, but only if the Attorney…
Jimmy Carter High School • 2m
EO 12142 Jun 21, 1979
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Fidelity (+0.29)
Executive Order 12142—Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
1-101. Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1979, not having been disapproved by Congress (S. Res. 126, 125 Cong. Rec. S 6563-64 (May 23, 1979); H. Res. 199, 125 Cong. Rec. H 3950-51 (May 31, 1979) ), shall be effective on July 1, 1979. 1-102.
Jimmy Carter High School • 3m
EO 12144 Jun 22, 1979
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12144—Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
1-101. Sections 1 and 2 of Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978 (43 FR 19807) shall become effective on July 1, 1979, with the exception of the transfer of functions from the Civil Service Commission, already effective January 1, 1979 (Executive Order No. 12106). 1-102.
Jimmy Carter College Level • 1m
EO 12143 Superseded Jun 22, 1979
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Fidelity (+0.23)
Executive Order 12143—Maintaining Unofficial Relations with the People on Taiwan
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
1-1. Delegation and Reservation of Functions. 1-101. Exclusive of the functions otherwise delegated, or reserved to the President, by this Order, there are delegated to the Secretary of State all functions conferred upon the President by the Act.
Jimmy Carter High School • 5m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 12,141 (June 5, 1979), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12141-independent-water-project-review.
