By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States, including the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, and section 301 of Title 3 of the United States Code, it is hereby ordered that Executive Order No. 12163, as amended, is further amended by inserting at the end of the first sentence of subsection 6 of Section 1-201, the following phrase: ", and all functions conferred by Section 534 of the Act." RONALD REAGAN The White House, December 24, 1987. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 3:08 p.m., December 28, 1987]
Executive Order 12620 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order 12620—Delegation of Authority With Respect to the Administration of Justice Program
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (101 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
Executive Order No. 12163, as amended, is further amended by inserting at the end of the first sentence of subsection 6 of Section 1-201, the following phrase: ", and all functions conferred by Section 534 of the Act."
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
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 Ronald Reagan on December 24, 1987, this order concerns Delegation of Authority With Respect to the Administration of Justice Program. Executive Order No. 12163, as amended, is further amended by inserting at the end of the first sentence of subsection 6 of Section 1-201, the following phrase: ", and all functions conferred by Section 534 of the Act."
Constitutional Assessment: This action represents an orderly exercise of Article II administrative discretion, managing the internal machinery and personnel of the executive branch without abridging the ancient liberties of the people.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
▪
Executive Order No. 12163, as amended, is further amended by inserting at the end of the first sentence of subsection 6 of Section 1-201, the following phrase: ", and all functions conferred by Section 534 of the Act."
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ 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
"A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government." — Federalist No. 70 (1788)
Hamilton would view this directive as the natural and indispensable functioning of administrative leadership. Without the power to coordinate agencies, manage personnel, and resolve operational ambiguities, the modern presidency would be reduced to an impotent figurehead.
Hamiltonian Stance: Defends Vigor & Dispatch
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
101
578 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
10.6
High School
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
1 order cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
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 12619 Dec 24, 1987
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12619—Half-Day Closing of Government Departments and Agencies on Thursday,
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
All Executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty for the last half of the scheduled workday on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1987, except as provided in Section 2 below. Sec. 2.
Ronald Reagan High School • 1m
EO 12618 Dec 22, 1987
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12618—Uniform Treatment of Federally Funded Inventions
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order No. 12591 of April 10, 1987, is amended by redesignating Sections l(b) (5) and (6) as l(b) (6) and (7), respectively, and by adding a new Section l(b)(5) as follows: "(5) administer all patents and licenses to inventions made with federal assistance, which are…
Ronald Reagan Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 12621 Dec 29, 1987
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12621—President's Task Force on Market Mechanisms
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Section 2(b) of Executive Order 12614 of November 5, 1987, is amended to read: "The Task Force shall submit its recommendations to the President no later than January 8, 1988."
Ronald Reagan High School • 1m
EO 12622 Dec 31, 1987
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12622—Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay and Allowances
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The rates of basic pay and salaries of the following statutory pay systems are set forth on the schedules attached hereto and made a part hereof: (a) The General Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5332(a)) at Schedule 1; (b) The Foreign Services Schedule (22 U.S.C. 3963) at Schedule 2; and (c)…
Ronald Reagan High School • 2m
EO 12617 Dec 17, 1987
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12617—President's Advisory Committee on Mediation and Conciliation
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Section 4(b) of Executive Order No. 12462 of February 17, 1984, as amended, is further amended to read: "The Committee shall terminate 60 days after the Committee submits its report to the President and the Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, or no later…
Ronald Reagan College Level • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 12,620 (Dec. 24, 1987), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12620-delegation-authority-with-respect-the-administration-justice-program.
