FUNCTIONS UNDER THE FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1961, AS AMENDED 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. I determine it to be in furtherance of the purposes of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, and in the national security interest of the United States that the functions authorized by chapter 7 of Part II of that Act, relating to air base construction in Israel, be performed without regard to the following additional specified provisions of law: (1) Title IX of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C. 541544); (2) Section 612 of the Military Construction Authorization Act, 1967, as amended (31 U.S.C. 723a); (3) Section 719 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2168); and (4) Section 111 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C. 759).". JIMMY CARTER The White House, December 10, 1979. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11: 15 a.m., December 11, 1979]
Executive Order 12178 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 12178—Foreign Assistance Functions
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (212 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
I determine it to be in furtherance of the purposes of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, and in the national security interest of the United States that the functions authorized by chapter 7 of Part II of that Act, relating to air base construction in Israel, be performed without regard to the following additional specified provisions of law: (1) Title IX of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C. 541544); (2) Section 612 of the Military Construction Authorization Act, 1967, as amended (31 U.S.C. 723a); (3) Section 719 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2168); and (4) Section 111 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as…
⚖️ 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 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 December 10, 1979, this order concerns Foreign Assistance Functions. 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.
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
▪
I determine it to be in furtherance of the purposes of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, and in the national security interest of the United States that the functions authorized by chapter 7 of Part II of that Act, relating to air base construction in Israel, be performed without regard to the following additional specified provisions of law: (1) Title IX of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C. 541544); (2) Section 612 of the Military Construction Authorization Act, 1967, as amended (31 U.S.C. 723a); (3) Section 719 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2168); and (4) Section 111 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as…
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ 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
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
212
1,242 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
11.8
High School
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
1 order cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 11223 Amended May 12, 1965
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11223—Relating to the Performance of Functions Authorized by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as Amended
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
For purposes of the tax imposed by section 4911 of the Internal Revenue Code, the following areas are designated as economically less developed countries: (a) All foreign countries (including Trust Territories) in existence on or after the effective date of this order, other…
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EO 12177 Dec 10, 1979
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12177—Federal Government Pension Plans
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
1-101, All the functions vested in the President by Section 121(a) of the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950, as amended (31 U.S.C. 68a), are delegated to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Jimmy Carter College Level • 2m
EO 12181 Dec 11, 1979
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12181—Generalized System of Preferences for Developing Countries
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
The Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS) (19 U.S.C. 1202) are modified by striking out items 791.24 and 791.26, including the superior heading thereto, and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "791.26 Other. . . .5% ad val. 15% ad val." SEC. 2.
Jimmy Carter High School • 3m
EO 12180 Dec 11, 1979
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12180—Generalized System of Preferences for Developing Countries
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
General Headnote 3 (c) (ii) of the TSUS, is modified by substituting therefor the new General Headnote 3(c) (ii) as provided in Annex I, attached hereto and made a part hereof. SEC. 2.
Jimmy Carter College Level • 2m
EO 12179 Dec 11, 1979
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12179—Holiday for Federal Employees
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
General Provisions. 1-101. All Executive departments and agencies shall be closed and their employees excused from duty on Monday, December 24, 1979, the day before Christmas Day, except as provided by Section 1-102 below. 1-102.
Jimmy Carter High School • 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
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 12,178 (Dec. 10, 1979), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12178-foreign-assistance-functions.
