CONTINUING APPLICABILITY OF PANAMA CANAL REGULATIONS By the authority vested in me as President of the United States of America by Section 301 of Title 3 of the United States Code, by the Panama Canal Code (76A Stat. 1), as amended, and by Public Law 96-70 (93 Stat. 452), and in accordance with the rights granted to the United States of America by the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 "to manage, operate, and maintain the Panama Canal, its complementary works, installations and equipment and to provide for the orderly transit of vessels through the Panama Canal," it is hereby ordered as follows: 1-101. All regulations that were adopted by the President or his delegates pursuant to former Title 2 of the Canal Zone Code (76A Stat. 6-50), repealed by Section 303(a) (1) of Public Law 96—70, or actions taken pursuant thereto, that were in effect on September 30, 1979, and that address matters which the President is authorized to regulate pursuant to Public Law 96-70, shall remain in effect unless or until amended, superseded, or otherwise terminated by the President or the Panama Canal Commission. This extension shall not apply to the extent that any such regulation or action is inconsistent with the provisions of the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977, its implementing agreements, or Public Law 96-70. 1-102. The Secretary of Defense shall exercise the powers and carry out the responsibilities vested in the President of the United States by the Panama Canal Code (76A Stat. 1), as amended, and Public Law 96-70 (93 Stat. 452), except for those powers and responsibilities vested in the President by Sections 1102 (b) , 1103, 1104, 1105(a), 1106(b), 1108, 1109(a), 1112(d), 1243(a)(1), 1321(c), 1344(b), 1504(b), 1601(a), 2206(b) and 3301 of Public Law 96-70. This delegation shall be effective for 120 days after the date of this Order. JIMMY CARTER The White House, November 29, 1979. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 2:23 p.m., November 29, 1979]
Executive Order 12173 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 12173—Panama Canal
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (326 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
All regulations that were adopted by the President or his delegates pursuant to former Title 2 of the Canal Zone Code (76A Stat. 6-50), repealed by Section 303(a) (1) of Public Law 96—70, or actions taken pursuant thereto, that were in effect on September 30, 1979, and that address matters which the President is authorized to regulate pursuant to Public Law 96-70, shall remain in effect unless or until amended, superseded, or otherwise terminated by the President or the Panama Canal Commission.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Private Citizens & Property Owners 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 November 29, 1979, this order concerns Panama Canal. 1-101. All regulations that were adopted by the President or his delegates pursuant to former Title 2 of the Canal Zone Code (76A Stat. 6-50), repealed by Section 303(a) (1) of Public Law 96—70, or actions taken pursuant thereto, that were in effect on September 30, 1979, and that address matters which the President is authorized to regulate pursuant to Public Law 96-70, shall remain in effect unless or until…
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
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All regulations that were adopted by the President or his delegates pursuant to former Title 2 of the Canal Zone Code (76A Stat. 6-50), repealed by Section 303(a) (1) of Public Law 96—70, or actions taken pursuant thereto, that were in effect on September 30, 1979, and that address matters which the President is authorized to regulate pursuant to Public Law 96-70, shall remain in effect unless or until amended, superseded, or otherwise terminated by the President or the Panama Canal Commission.
▪
This extension shall not apply to the extent that any such regulation or action is inconsistent with the provisions of the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977, its implementing agreements, or Public Law 96-70. 1-102.
▪
The Secretary of Defense shall exercise the powers and carry out the responsibilities vested in the President of the United States by the Panama Canal Code (76A Stat. 1), as amended, and Public Law 96-70 (93 Stat. 452), except for those powers and responsibilities vested in the President by Sections 1102 (b) , 1103, 1104, 1105(a), 1106(b), 1108, 1109(a), 1112(d), 1243(a)(1), 1321(c), 1344(b), 1504(b), 1601(a), 2206(b) and 3301 of Public Law 96-70.
▪
This delegation shall be effective for 120 days after the date of this Order.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
🏛️ 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 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
"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
📐
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
326
1,969 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
13.5
College Level
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 • 1980-03-26
Related Executive Orders
Other executive actions signed by Jimmy Carter around this period.
EO 12174 Nov 30, 1979
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12174—Federal Paperwork Reduction
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
1-101. Agencies shall minimize the paperwork burden—i.e., the time and costs entailed in complying with requests for information and record keeping requirements-imposed on persons outside the Federal government.
Jimmy Carter College Level • 3m
EO 12172 Nov 26, 1979
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12172—Iranian Aliens
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Delegation of Authority. The Secretary of State and the Attorney General are hereby designated and empowered to exercise in respect of Iranians holding nonimmigrant visas, the authority conferred upon the President by section 215(a) (1) of the Act of June 27, 1952 (8 USC 1185)…
Jimmy Carter College Level • 1m
EO 12176 Dec 7, 1979
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12176—President's Commission on the Coal Industry
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution of the United States of America, and in order to extend the time for the President's Commission on the Coal Industry to complete its report, Sections 1-401 and 1-402 of Executive Order No. 12103 of December 14, 1978…
Jimmy Carter Grade 9 • 1m
EO 12175 Dec 7, 1979
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12175—International Trade Functions
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Section 2(b)(1) of that Plan, establishing the Office of Deputy Secretary of Commerce, is effective immediately.
Jimmy Carter College Level • 1m
EO 12171 Amended Nov 19, 1979
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12171—Exclusions From the Federal Labor-Management Relations Program
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
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.
Jimmy Carter High School • 4m
EO 12178 Dec 10, 1979
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12178—Foreign Assistance Functions
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
By the authority vested in me as President of the United States of America by Section 633 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (22 U.S.C. 2393), Executive Order No. 11223 of May 12, 1965, is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following Section: "See. 6.
Jimmy Carter High School • 1m
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Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 12,173 (Nov. 29, 1979), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12173-panama-canal.
