Executive Order 13109 Constitutional Fidelity (+0.23)

Executive Order 13109—Half-Day Closing of Executive Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government on Thursday, December 24, 1998

•

Thursday, December 17, 1998

•

1 min read (221 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 William J. Clinton on 1998-12-17, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Half-Day Closing of Executive Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government on Thursday, December 24, 1998." It is a direct, concise executive instruction delivering focused administrative or military commands to department leadership.

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

▪ 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, 1998, except as provided in section 2 below.

▪ Thursday, December 24, 1998, shall be considered as falling within the scope of Executive Order 11582 and of 5 U.S.C.

▪ This order shall apply to executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government only and is not intended to direct or otherwise implicate departments or agencies of State or local governments.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Total Words

221

1,331 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

13.6

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.23

Framers' Alignment index

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 13109, William J. Clinton (Dec 17, 1998). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-13109-half-day-closing-executive-departments-and-agencies-the-federal.

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, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. 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, 1998, except as provided in section 2 below. Sec. 2. The heads of executive departments and agencies may determine that certain offices and installations of their organizations, or parts thereof, must remain open and that certain employees must remain on duty for the full scheduled workday on December 24, 1998, for reasons of national security or defense or for other essential public reasons. Sec. 3. Thursday, December 24, 1998, shall be considered as falling within the scope of Executive Order 11582 and of 5 U.S.C. 5546 and 6103(b) and other similar statutes insofar as they relate to the pay and leave of employees of the United States. Sec. 4. This order shall apply to executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government only and is not intended to direct or otherwise implicate departments or agencies of State or local governments. William J. Clinton The White House, December 17, 1998. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., December 21, 1998]