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Executive Order 12765 Constitutional Fidelity (+0.23)

Executive Order 12765—Delegation of Certain Defense Related Authorities of the President to the Secretary of Defense

George Bush George Bush
•
Tuesday, June 11, 1991
•
2 min read (384 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 George Bush on 1991-06-11, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Delegation of Certain Defense Related Authorities of the President to the Secretary of Defense." 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

▪ Such exceptions shall be based on a determination that it is in the national security interest of the United States to authorize an exception.
▪ The Secretary of Defense shall transmit notice of any such determination to the Congress, as required by section 7309(b).
▪ This order shall be effective immediately.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
Total Words
384
2,263 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
17.8
Post-Grad reading level
Constitutional Polarity
+0.23
Framers' Alignment index
📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 12765, George Bush (Jun 11, 1991). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12765-delegation-certain-defense-related-authorities-the-president-the.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code, and my authority as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. The Secretary of Defense is hereby designated and empowered, without the approval, ratification, or other action by the President, to exercise the authority vested in the President by section 749 of title 10 of the United States Code to assign the command without regard to rank in grade to any commissioned officers of the same grade or corresponding grades are assigned to the same area, field command, or organization. Sec. 2. The Secretary of Defense is hereby designated and empowered, without the approval, ratification, or other action by the President, to exercise the authority vested in the President by section 7299a(a) of title 10 of the United States Code to direct that combatant vessels and escort vessels be constructed in a Navy or private yard, as the case may be, if the requirement of the Act of March 27, 1934 (ch. 95, 48 Stat. 503) that the first and each succeeding alternate vessel of the same class be constructed in a Navy yard is inconsistent with the public interest. Sec. 3. For vessels, and for any major component of the hull or superstructure of vessels to be constructed or repaired for any of the armed forces, the Secretary of Defense is hereby designated and empowered, without the approval, ratification, or other action by the President, to exercise the authority vested in President, by section 7309(b) of title 10 of the United States Code to authorize exceptions to the prohibition in section 7309(a) of title 10 of the United States Code. Such exceptions shall be based on a determination that it is in the national security interest of the United States to authorize an exception. The Secretary of Defense shall transmit notice of any such determination to the Congress, as required by section 7309(b). Sec. 4. The Secretary of Defense may redelegate the authority delegated to him by this order, in accordance with applicable law. Sec. 5. This order shall be effective immediately. George Bush The White House, June 11, 1991.