ADJUSTMENTS OF CERTAIN RATES OF PAY AND ALLOWANCES By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1-1. Adjusted Rates of Pay and Allowances. 1-101. Statutory Pay Systems. Pursuant to the provisions of subchapter I of Chapter 53 of Title 5 of the United States Code, the rates of basic pay and salaries are adjusted, as set forth at the schedules attached hereto and made a part hereof, for the following statutory pay systems: (a) The General Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5332(a) ) at Schedule 1; (b) the schedules for the Foreign Service (22 U.S.C. 867 and 870(a)) at Schedule 2; (c) the schedules for the Department of Medicine and Surgery, Veterans Administration (38 U.S.C. 4107) at Schedule 3; and (d) the rates of basic pay for the Senior Executive Service (5 U.S.C. 5382) at Schedule 4. 1-102. Pay and Allowances for Members of the Uniformed Services. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 1009 of Title 37 of the United States Code, the rates of monthly basic pay (37 U.S.C. 203(a) and (c)), the rams of basic allowances for subsistence (37 U.S.C. 402), and the rates of basic allowances for quarters (37 U.S.C. 403 (a)) are adjusted, as set forth at Schedule 5 attached hereto and made a part hereof, for members of the uniformed services. 1-103. Executive Salaries. The Executive Salary Cost of Living Adjustment Act (89 Stat. 419, 28 U.S.C. 461) provides for adjustments in the rates of pay and salaries as set forth at the schedules attached hereto and made a part hereof, for the following: (a) The Vice President (3 U.S.C. 104) and the Executive Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5312-5316) at Schedule 6; and (b) Congressional Salaries (2 U.S.C. 31 ) at Schedule 7. 1-2. General Provisions 1-201. Effective Date. The adjustments in rates of monthly basic pay and allowances for subsistence and quarters for members of the uniformed services shall be effective on October 1, 1979. All other adjustments of salary or pay shall be effective on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after October 1, 1979. 1-202. Superseded Orders. Executive Order No. 12087 of October 7, 1978, is superseded. JIMMY CARTER The White House, October 9, 1979. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:33 a.m., October 10, 1979]
Executive Order 12165 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.23)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 12165—Federal Civilian and Military Pay Increases
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (397 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
The adjustments in rates of monthly basic pay and allowances for subsistence and quarters for members of the uniformed services shall be effective on October 1, 1979.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Foreign Nations & International Entities
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 October 9, 1979, this order concerns Federal Civilian and Military Pay Increases. 1-1. Adjusted Rates of Pay and Allowances. 1-101. Statutory Pay Systems. Pursuant to the provisions of subchapter I of Chapter 53 of Title 5 of the United States Code, the rates of basic pay and salaries are adjusted, as set forth at the schedules attached hereto and made a part hereof, for the following statutory pay systems: (a) The General Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5332(a) ) at Schedule 1; (b) the schedules for the…
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
▪
The adjustments in rates of monthly basic pay and allowances for subsistence and quarters for members of the uniformed services shall be effective on October 1, 1979.
▪
All other adjustments of salary or pay shall be effective on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after October 1, 1979. 1-202.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities
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 1 (Maximum Authority)
§
"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
"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
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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.
🛡️ High Constitutional Concordance
28 / 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
Low Friction
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
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 in close harmony with statutory authority and standard Article II supervisory execution.
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
397
2,325 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
8.8
Grade 9
Text size:
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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Jimmy Carter • 1980-03-12
Related Executive Orders
1 order cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 12087 Oct 7, 1978
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Fidelity (+0.23)
Executive Order 12087—Federal Civilian and Military Pay Increases
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
1-1. Adjusted Rates of Pay and Allowances. 1-101. Statutory Pay Systems. Pursuant to the provisions of subchapter I of Chapter 53 of Title 5 of the United States Code, the rates of basic pay and salaries are adjusted, as set forth at the schedules attached hereto and made a…
Jimmy Carter Grade 9 • 2m
EO 12166 Oct 19, 1979
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12166—Export-Import Bank
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
1-101. The function vested in the President by Section 2(b) (1) (B) of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945, as amended (12 U.S.C. 635(b) (1) (B)), is delegated to the Secretary of State.
Jimmy Carter High School • 1m
EO 12164 Sep 29, 1979
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12164—Multilateral Development Institutions
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
1-101. Executive Order No. 11269, as amended, is further amended in Section 1 (b) by adding "the Director of the International Development Cooperation Agency," after "the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,". 1-102.
Jimmy Carter College Level • 2m
EO 12163 Amended Sep 29, 1979
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Fidelity (+0.55)
Executive Order 12163—Administration of Foreign Assistance and Related Functions
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
1-1. United States International Development Cooperation Agency 1-101. Establishment of the United States International Development Cooperation Agency.
Jimmy Carter College Level • 21m
EO 12162 Sep 28, 1979
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12162—Amendment to Executive Order 12140: Gasoline End-User Allocation
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order No. 12140 is hereby amended by deleting the first sentence in Sec. 1-105.
Jimmy Carter High School • 1m
EO 12161 Sep 28, 1979
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Fidelity (+0.29)
Executive Order 12161—Anti-Inflation Program
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
By the authority vested in me as President and as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces by the Constitution and statutes of the United States of America, including the Council on Wage and Price Stability Act, as amended ( 12 U.S.C. 1904 note), and the Federal Property and…
Jimmy Carter Post-Graduate Legal • 2m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 12,165 (Oct. 9, 1979), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12165-federal-civilian-and-military-pay-increases.
