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Executive Order 13261 Revoked 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.23) 📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution

Executive Order 13261—Providing An Order of Succession in the Environmental Protection Agency and Amending Certain Orders on Succession

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Tuesday, March 19, 2002
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4 min read (840 words)
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67 Fed. Reg. 13243

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 4 min read (840 words) • ● Revoked
🎯 Primary Mandate

No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 2(a)–(k) in an acting capacity, by virtue of so serving, shall act as Administrator pursuant to this order.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

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

Signed by President George W. Bush on March 19, 2002, this order concerns Providing An Order of Succession in the Environmental Protection Agency and Amending Certain Orders on Succession. Section 1. Subject to the provisions of section 3 of this order, the officers named in section 2, in the order listed, shall act as and perform the functions and duties of the office of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (Administrator) during any period when both the Administrator and the Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency have died, resigned, or become otherwise…

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

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Exceptions

No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 2(a)–(k) in an acting capacity, by virtue of so serving, shall act as Administrator pursuant to this order.

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Amendments to Certain Executive Orders providing Orders of Succession

Executive Orders 13241, 13242, 13243, 13244, 13245, 13246, and 13247 of December 18, 2001, and Executive Orders 13250 and 13251 of December 28, 2001, are hereby amended as follows: (a) Section 3(a) of Executive Order 13241 of December 18, 2001, entitled "Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Agriculture," is replaced with the following: "(a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 2(a)–(j) in an acting capacity shall, by virtue of so serving, act as Secretary pursuant to this order."; (b) Section 3(a) of Executive Order 13242 of December 18, 2001, entitled "Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Commerce," is replaced with the following: "(a) No individual who is serving in an…

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
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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: Supportive of Execution
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.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
32 / 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

Moderate Friction

Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.

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 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%).
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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
840
5,301 characters
Estimated Read Time
4 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
19.9
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.23
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, 5 U.S.C. 3345, et seq., it is hereby ordered that:

Section 1. #sec-1

Subject to the provisions of section 3 of this order, the officers named in section 2, in the order listed, shall act as and perform the functions and duties of the office of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (Administrator) during any period when both the Administrator and the Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency have died, resigned, or become otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the office of Administrator.

Sec. 2. #sec-2

Order of Succession. (a) Assistant Administrator for Toxic Substances; (b) Assistant Administrator (Air and Radiation); (c) Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste; (d) Assistant Administrator (Water Programs); (e) Assistant Administrator (General Counsel); (f) Assistant Administrator (Enforcement and Compliance Assurance); (g) Chief Financial Officer; (h) Assistant Administrator (Research and Development); (i) Assistant Administrator (International Activities); (j) Assistant Administrator (Administration and Resources Management); and (k) Assistant Administrator (Environmental Information).

Sec. 3. #sec-3

Exceptions. (a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 2(a)–(k) in an acting capacity, by virtue of so serving, shall act as Administrator pursuant to this order. (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of this order, the President retains discretion, to the extent permitted by the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, 5 U.S.C. 3345 et seq., to depart from this order in designating an acting Administrator.

Sec. 4. #sec-4

Amendments to Certain Executive Orders providing Orders of Succession. Executive Orders 13241, 13242, 13243, 13244, 13245, 13246, and 13247 of December 18, 2001, and Executive Orders 13250 and 13251 of December 28, 2001, are hereby amended as follows: (a) Section 3(a) of Executive Order 13241 of December 18, 2001, entitled "Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Agriculture," is replaced with the following: "(a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 2(a)–(j) in an acting capacity shall, by virtue of so serving, act as Secretary pursuant to this order."; (b) Section 3(a) of Executive Order 13242 of December 18, 2001, entitled "Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Commerce," is replaced with the following: "(a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 2(a)–(h) in an acting capacity shall, by virtue of so serving, act as Secretary pursuant to this order."; (c) Section 3(a) of Executive Order 13243 of December 18, 2001, entitled "Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Housing and Urban Development," is replaced with the following: "(a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 2(a)–(i) in an acting capacity shall, by virtue of so serving, act as Secretary pursuant to this order."; (d) Section 3(a) of Executive Order 13244 of December 18, 2001, entitled "Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of the Interior," is replaced with the following: "(a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 2(a)–(f) in an acting capacity shall, by virtue of so serving, act as Secretary pursuant to this order."; (e) Section 3(a) of Executive Order 13245 of December 18, 2001, entitled "Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Labor," is replaced with the following: "(a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 2(a)–(l) in an acting capacity shall, by virtue of so serving, act as Secretary pursuant to this order."; (f) Section 3(a) of Executive Order 13246 of December 18, 2001, entitled "Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of the Treasury," is replaced with the following: "(a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 2(a)–(c) in an acting capacity shall, by virtue of so serving, act as Secretary pursuant to this order."; (g) Section 3(a) of Executive Order 13247 of December 18, 2001, entitled "Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Veterans Affairs," is replaced with the following: "(a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 2(a)–(h) in an acting capacity shall, by virtue of so serving, act as Secretary pursuant to this order."; (h) Section 3(a) of Executive Order 13250 of December 28, 2001, entitled "Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Health and Human Services," is replaced with the following: "(a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 2(a)–(c) in an acting capacity shall, by virtue of so serving, act as Secretary pursuant to this order." and; (i) Section 3(b) of Executive Order 13251 of December 28, 2001, entitled "Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of State," is replaced with the following: "(b) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 2(a)–(m) in an acting capacity shall, by virtue of so serving, act as Secretary pursuant to this order.". GEORGE W. BUSH The White House, March 19, 2002. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 12:12 p.m., March 20, 2002]

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (3)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 13,261, 67 Fed. Reg. 13,243 (Mar. 19, 2002).