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Executive Order 12400 Constitutional Fidelity (+0.44)

Executive Order 12400—President's Commission on Strategic Forces

Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan
•
Monday, January 3, 1983
•
2 min read (423 words)

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

This executive order, signed by President Ronald Reagan on 1983-01-03, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "President's Commission on Strategic Forces." It outlines operative directives for executive department officers, delegating enforcement responsibilities and establishing official governance guidelines.

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

▪ By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, and in order to establish, in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C.
▪ The Commission shall be composed of no more than 15 members appointed or designated by the President.
▪ These members shall have particular knowledge and expertise concerning the national security, strategic forces, or foreign relations of the United States.
▪ Information supplied to or developed by the Commission shall not, to the extent permitted by law, be available for public inspection.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities
Total Words
423
2,752 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
14.2
Post-Grad reading level
Constitutional Polarity
+0.44
Framers' Alignment index
📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 12400, Ronald Reagan (Jan 3, 1983). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12400-presidents-commission-strategic-forces.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, and in order to establish, in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App. I), an advisory committee on strategic forces, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Establishment. (a) There is established the President's Commission on Strategic Forces. The Commission shall be composed of no more than 15 members appointed or designated by the President. These members shall have particular knowledge and expertise concerning the national security, strategic forces, or foreign relations of the United States. (b) The President shall designate a Chairman from among the members of the Commission. Sec. 2. Functions. (a) The Commission shall review the strategic modernization program for United States forces, with particular reference to the intercontinental ballistic missile system and basing alternatives for that system, and provide appropriate advice to the President, the National Security Council, and the Department of Defense. (b) The Commission shall report to the President by February 18, 1983. Sec. 3. Administration. (a) The heads of Executive agencies shall, to the extent permitted by law, provide the Commission such information as it may require for purposes of carrying out its functions. Information supplied to or developed by the Commission shall not, to the extent permitted by law, be available for public inspection. (b) Members of the Commission shall serve without compensation for their work on the Commission. However, members appointed from among private citizens of the United States may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law for persons serving intermittently in the government service (5 U.S.C. 5701-5707), to the extent funds are available therefor. (c) The Secretary of Defense shall provide the Commission with such administrative services, facilities, staff and other support services as may be necessary. Any expenses of the Commission shall be paid from such funds as may be available to the Secretary of Defense. Sec. 4. General. (a) Notwithstanding any other Executive Order, the functions of the President under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended, except that of reporting to the Congress, which are applicable to the Commission, shall be performed by the Secretary of Defense, in accordance with guidelines and procedures established by the Administrator of General Services. (b) The Commission shall terminate 30 days after its report, unless sooner extended. RONALD REAGAN The White House, January 3, 1983. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 12:04 p.m., January 4, 1983]