CORRECTIVE AMENDMENTS By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and statutes of the United States of America, and in order to correct references in two prior Executive Orders, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1-101. Section 5-211 of Executive Order No. 12148 of July 20, 1979, is corrected and amended to read: "Section 1-102 of Executive Order No. 12083, as amended by Executive Order No. 12121, is further amended by adding in alphabetical order "(z) The Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency".". 1-102. Section 1 (c) of Executive Order No. 12038 of February 3, 1978, is corrected and amended to read: "(c) Executive Order No. 11912, as amended, relating to energy policy and conservation, and Proclamation No. 3279, as amended, relating to imports of petroleum and petroleum products, are further amended by deleting' "Administrator of the Federal Energy Administration", "Federal Energy Administration", and "Administrator" (when used in reference to the Federal Energy Administration) wherever those terms appear and by substituting "Secretary of Energy", "Department of Energy", and "Secretary", respectively, and by deleting "the Administrator of Energy Research and Development" in Section 10(a) (l) of Executive Order No. 11912, as amended." JIMMY CARTER The White House, September 10, 1979. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 2:53 p.m., September 10, 1979]
Executive Order 12156 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order 12156—Federal Emergency Management Agency; Department of Energy
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (216 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
Section 5-211 of Executive Order No. 12148 of July 20, 1979, is corrected and amended to read: "Section 1-102 of Executive Order No. 12083, as amended by Executive Order No. 12121, is further amended by adding in alphabetical order "(z) The Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency".". 1-102.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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 September 10, 1979, this order concerns Federal Emergency Management Agency; Department of Energy. 1-101. Section 5-211 of Executive Order No. 12148 of July 20, 1979, is corrected and amended to read: "Section 1-102 of Executive Order No. 12083, as amended by Executive Order No. 12121, is further amended by adding in alphabetical order "(z) The Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency".". 1-102.
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
▪
Section 5-211 of Executive Order No. 12148 of July 20, 1979, is corrected and amended to read: "Section 1-102 of Executive Order No. 12083, as amended by Executive Order No. 12121, is further amended by adding in alphabetical order "(z) The Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency".". 1-102.
▪
Of Executive Order No. 12038 of February 3, 1978, is corrected and amended to read: "(c) Executive Order No. 11912, as amended, relating to energy policy and conservation, and Proclamation No. 3279, as amended, relating to imports of petroleum and petroleum products, are further amended by deleting' "Administrator of the Federal Energy Administration", "Federal Energy Administration", and "Administrator" (when used in reference to the Federal Energy Administration) wherever those terms appear and by substituting "Secretary of Energy", "Department of Energy", and "Secretary", respectively, and by deleting "the Administrator of Energy Research and Development" in Section 10(a) (l) of Executive Order No. 11912, as amended."
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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
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
216
1,414 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
13.9
College Level
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
5 orders cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 12148 Partially revoked Jul 20, 1979
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12148—Federal Emergency Management
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Transfer or Reassignment of Existing Functions. 1-101. All functions vested in the President that have been delegated or assigned to the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency, Department of Defense, are transferred or reassigned to the Director of the Federal Emergency Management…
Jimmy Carter College Level • 17m
EO 12083 Sep 27, 1978
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12083—Energy Coordinating Committee
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
1-1. Establishment of the Committee. 1-101. There is established an Energy Coordinating Committee, hereinafter referred to as the Committee. 1-102. The Committee shall be composed of the following, and such other members as the President may, from time to time, designate.
Jimmy Carter High School • 3m
EO 12121 Feb 26, 1979
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12121—Energy Coordinating Committee
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
-102 of Executive Order No. 12083 of September 27, 1978, is hereby amended by adding in alphabetical order the following: . "(x) The Director of the Community Services Administration. "(y) The Chairman of the Council on Wage and Price Stability.".
Jimmy Carter High School • 1m
EO 12038 Feb 3, 1978
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Fidelity (+0.33)
Executive Order 12038—Department of Energy
📜 Art. II §2: Diplomatic & Foreign Policy Prerogative
Functions of the Federal Energy Administration. In accordance with the transfer of all functions vested by law in the Federal Energy Administration, or the Administrator thereof, to the Secretary of Energy pursuant to Section 301 (a) of the Department of Energy Organization…
Jimmy Carter Post-Graduate Legal • 8m
EO 11912 Partially revoked Apr 13, 1976
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11912—Delegation of Authorities Relating to Energy Policy and Conservation
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
The Administrator of General Services is designated and empowered to perform without approval, ratification, or other action by the President, the functions vested in the President by section 510 of the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act, as amended (89 Stat. 915…
Gerald R. Ford College Level • 7m
EO 12155 Sep 10, 1979
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12155—Strategic and Critical Materials
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
Effective July 30, 1979, as follows: 1-101. The functions vested in the President by Section 3 of the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act, as amended, hereinafter referred to as the Act, (50 U.S.C. 98b), are delegated to the Director of the Federal Emergency…
Jimmy Carter High School • 2m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 12,156 (Sept. 10, 1979), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12156-federal-emergency-management-agency-department-energy.
