By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and statutes of the United States of America, including Section 7103(b) of Title 5 of the United States Code, and in order to exempt certain agencies or subdivisions thereof from coverage of the Federal Labor-Management Relations Program, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1-1. Determinations. 1-101. The agencies or subdivisions thereof set forth in Section 1-2 of this Order are hereby determined to have as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work. It is also hereby determined that Chapter 71 of Title 5 of the United States Code cannot be applied to those agencies or subdivisions in a manner consistent with national security requirements and considerations. The agencies or subdivisions thereof set forth in Section 1-2 of this Order are hereby excluded from coverage under Chapter 71 of Title 5 of the United States Code. 1-102. Having determined that it is necessary in the interest of national security, the provisions of Chapter 71 of Title 5 of the United States Code are suspended with respect to any agency, installation, or activity listed in Section 1-3 of this Order. However, such suspension shall be applicable only to that portion of the agency, installation, or activity which is located outside the 50 States and the District of Columbia. 1-2. Exclusions. 1-201. The Information Security Oversight Office, General Services Administration. 1-202. The Federal Research Division, Research Services, the Library of Congress. 1-203. Agencies or subdivisions of the Department of the Treasury: (a) The U.S. Secret Service. (b) The U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division. (c) The Office of Special Assistant to the Secretary (National Security). (d) The Office of Intelligence Support (OIS). (e) The Office of the Assistant Secretary (Enforcement and Operations) (OEO). (f) The Office of Criminal Enforcement, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. (g) The Office of Investigations, U.S. Customs Service. (h) The Criminal Investigation Division, Internal Revenue Service. 1-204. Agencies or subdivisions of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense: (a) Office of Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence. (b) U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command. (c) U.S. Army Foreign Science and Technology Center. (d) U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School. (e) U.S. Army Missile Intelligence Agency. (f) Foreign Intelligence Office, U.S. Army Missile Research and Development Command. 1-205. Agencies or subdivisions of the Department of the Navy, Department of Defense: (a) Office of Naval Intelligence. (b) Naval Intelligence Command Headquarters and Subordinate Commands. (c) Headquarters, Naval Security Group Command. (d) Naval Security Group Activities and Detachments. (e) Fleet Intelligence Center, Europe and Atlantic (FICEURLANT). (f) Fleet Intelligence Center, Pacific (FICPAC). (g) Units composed primarily of employees engaged in the operation, repair, and/or maintenance of "off line" or "on line" cryptographic equipment. (h) Units composed primarily of employees of Naval telecommunications activities in positions which require a cryptographic authorization. 1-206. Agencies or subdivisions of the Department of the Air Force, Department of Defense: (a) Office of Space Systems, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. (b) Office of Special Projects, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. (c) Engineering Office, Space and Missile Systems Organization (Air Force Systems Command). (d) Program Control Office, Space and Missile Systems Organization ( Air Force Systems Command ). (e) Detachment 3, Space and Missile Systems Organization (Air Force Systems Command). (f) Defense Dissemination Systems Program Office, Space and Missile Systems Organization (Air Force Systems Command). (g) Satellite Data System Program Office, Space and Missile Systems Organization (Air Force Systems Command). (h) Project Office at El Segundo, California, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. (i) Project Office at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. (j) Project Office at Fort Myer, Virginia, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. (k) Air Force Office of Special Investigations. (1) U.S. Air Force Security Service. (m) Foreign Technology Division, Air Force Systems Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. (n) 1035 Technical Operations Group (Air Force Technical Applications Center), Air Force Systems Command, and subordinate units. (o) 3480 Technical Training Wing, Air Training Command, Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas. 1-207. The Defense Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense. 1-208. The Defense Investigative Service, Department of Defense. 1-209. The Office of Enforcement and the Office of Intelligence, including all domestic field offices and intelligence units, of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Justice. 1-210. Offices of the Assistant Secretary for Defense Programs, Department of Energy. 1-211. Offices within the Agency for International Development: (a) The Immediate Office of the Auditor General. (b) The Office of Inspections and Investigations. (c) The Office of Security. (d) The Office of the Area Auditor General/Washington. 1-3. Units outside the 50 States and the District of Columbia. 1-301. The Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Justice. JIMMY CARTER The White House, November 19, 1979. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 1:52 p.m., November 19, 1979]
Executive Order 12171—Exclusions From the Federal Labor-Management Relations Program
Executive Brief • At a Glance
The agencies or subdivisions thereof set forth in Section 1-2 of this Order are hereby determined to have as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work.
Legal Status & Amendment History
AmendedSource: Office of the Federal Register executive order disposition notes. Orders before 1994 show only actions recorded by later orders.
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 November 19, 1979, this order concerns Exclusions From the Federal Labor-Management Relations Program. 1-1. Determinations. 1-101. The agencies or subdivisions thereof set forth in Section 1-2 of this Order are hereby determined to have as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
The agencies or subdivisions thereof set forth in Section 1-2 of this Order are hereby determined to have as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work.
It is also hereby determined that Chapter 71 of Title 5 of the United States Code cannot be applied to those agencies or subdivisions in a manner consistent with national security requirements and considerations.
Having determined that it is necessary in the interest of national security, the provisions of Chapter 71 of Title 5 of the United States Code are suspended with respect to any agency, installation, or activity listed in Section 1-3 of this Order.
However, such suspension shall be applicable only to that portion of the agency, installation, or activity which is located outside the 50 States and the District of Columbia. 1-2.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
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.
"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."
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.
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.
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.
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
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.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Referenced By Later Executive Orders (6)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 12,171 (Nov. 19, 1979), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12171-exclusions-from-the-federal-labor-management-relations-program.