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Executive Order 13022 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.38) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 13022—Administration of the Midway Islands

William J. Clinton William J. Clinton
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Thursday, October 31, 1996
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3 min read (552 words)
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61 Fed. Reg. 56875

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (552 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The Midway Islands, Hawaiian group, and their territorial seas, located approximately between the parallels of 28 degrees 5 minutes and 28 degrees 25 minutes North latitude and between the meridians of 177 degrees 10 minutes and 177 degrees 30 minutes West longitude, were placed under the jurisdiction and control of the Department of the Navy by the provisions of Executive Order 199-A of January 20, 1903, and Part II of Executive Order 11048 of September 4, 1962, and are hereby transferred to the jurisdiction and control of the Department of the Interior.

View all 4 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners Foreign Nations & International Entities
Inspect unabridged text ↓

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

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

Signed by President William J. Clinton on October 31, 1996, this order concerns Administration of the Midway Islands. The Midway Islands, Hawaiian group, and their territorial seas, located approximately between the parallels of 28 degrees 5 minutes and 28 degrees 25 minutes North latitude and between the meridians of 177 degrees 10 minutes and 177 degrees 30 minutes West longitude, were placed under the jurisdiction and control of the Department of the Navy by the provisions of Executive Order 199-A of January 20, 1903, and Part…

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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The Midway Islands, Hawaiian group, and their territorial seas, located approximately between the parallels of 28 degrees 5 minutes and 28 degrees 25 minutes North latitude and between the meridians of 177 degrees 10 minutes and 177 degrees 30 minutes West longitude, were placed under the jurisdiction and control of the Department of the Navy by the provisions of Executive Order 199-A of January 20, 1903, and Part II of Executive Order 11048 of September 4, 1962, and are hereby transferred to the jurisdiction and control of the Department of the Interior.

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The provisions of Executive Order 199-A of January 20, 1903, and the provisions of Executive Order 11048 of September 4, 1962, that pertain to the Midway Islands are hereby superseded.

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The Midway Islands Naval Defensive Sea Area and the Midway Islands Naval Airspace Reservation are hereby dissolved.

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The provisions of Executive Order 8682 of February 14, 1941, as amended by Executive Order 8729 of April 2, 1941, are hereby superseded.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Energy & Environment 🏷️ National Security & Defense
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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority)
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"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)

Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
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
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Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions

An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.

🛡️ High Constitutional Concordance
28 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Low Friction

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

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Moderate Friction

Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

Moderate Friction

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

Due Process & Individual Rights

Low Friction

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

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates in close harmony with statutory authority and standard Article II supervisory execution.

Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
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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
552
3,448 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
21.2
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.38
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document
📑Sections Outline (6 sections)
Sec. 1Sec. 2Sec. 3Sec. 4Sec. 5Sec. 6

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 48 of the Hawaii Omnibus Act, Public Law 86-624, and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. #sec-1

The Midway Islands, Hawaiian group, and their territorial seas, located approximately between the parallels of 28 degrees 5 minutes and 28 degrees 25 minutes North latitude and between the meridians of 177 degrees 10 minutes and 177 degrees 30 minutes West longitude, were placed under the jurisdiction and control of the Department of the Navy by the provisions of Executive Order 199-A of January 20, 1903, and Part II of Executive Order 11048 of September 4, 1962, and are hereby transferred to the jurisdiction and control of the Department of the Interior. The provisions of Executive Order 199-A of January 20, 1903, and the provisions of Executive Order 11048 of September 4, 1962, that pertain to the Midway Islands are hereby superseded.

Sec. 2. #sec-2

The Midway Islands Naval Defensive Sea Area and the Midway Islands Naval Airspace Reservation are hereby dissolved. The provisions of Executive Order 8682 of February 14, 1941, as amended by Executive Order 8729 of April 2, 1941, are hereby superseded.

Sec. 3. #sec-3

(a) The Secretary of the Interior, through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, shall administer the Midway Islands as the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in a manner consistent with Executive Order 12996 of March 25, 1996, for the following purposes: (1) maintaining and restoring natural biological diversity within the refuge; (2) providing for the conservation and management of fish and wildlife and their habitats within the refuge; (3) fulfilling the international treaty obligations of the United States with respect to fish and wildlife; (4) providing opportunities for scientific research, environmental education, and compatible wildlife dependent recreational activities; and (5) in a manner compatible with refuge purposes, shall recognize and maintain the historic significance of the Midway Islands consistent with the policy stated in Executive Order 11593 of May 13, 1971. (b) The Secretary of the Interior shall be responsible for the civil administration of the Midway Islands and all executive and legislative authority necessary for that administration, and all judicial authority respecting the Midway Islands other than the authority contained in 48 U.S.C. 644a.

Sec. 4. #sec-4

Any civil or criminal proceeding that is pending under the Midway Islands Code, 32 CFR Part 762, upon the date of this order, shall remain under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy. Actions arising after the date of this order are the responsibility of the Secretary of the Interior and shall be administered pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the Interior.

Sec. 5. #sec-5

To the extent that any prior Executive order or proclamation is inconsistent with the provisions of this order, this order shall control.

Sec. 6. #sec-6

Nothing in this order shall be deemed to reduce, limit, or otherwise modify the authority or responsibility of the Attorney General of the United States to represent the legal interests of the United States in civil or criminal cases arising under the provisions of 48 U.S.C. 644a. William J. Clinton The White House, October 31, 1996. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:04 a.m., November 1, 1996]

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 13,022, 61 Fed. Reg. 56,875 (Oct. 31, 1996).