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Executive Order 13373 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.23) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 13373—Amendments to Executive Order 11926 Relating to the Vice Presidential Service Badge

George W. Bush George W. Bush
•
Thursday, March 10, 2005
•
3 min read (542 words)
•
70 Fed. Reg. 12579

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (542 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Executive Order 11926 of July 19, 1976, as amended by Executive Order 13286 of February 28, 2003, is further amended as follows: (a) in section 1, by striking "and Coast Guard" and inserting in lieu thereof "Coast Guard, commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and commissioned corps of the Public Health Service"; (b) in section 1, by inserting ", or who have been assigned to perform duties predominantly for the Vice President for a period of at least one year subsequent to January 20, 2001, in the implementation of Public Law 93–346, as amended, or in military units and support facilities to which section 1 of Executive Order 12793 of March 20, 1992, as amended, refers" immediately preceding the period…

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⚖️ 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 Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners
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 George W. Bush on March 10, 2005, this order concerns Amendments to Executive Order 11926 Relating to the Vice Presidential Service Badge. Amendments to Executive Order 11926. Executive Order 11926 of July 19, 1976, as amended by Executive Order 13286 of February 28, 2003, is further amended as follows: (a) in section 1, by striking "and Coast Guard" and inserting in lieu thereof "Coast Guard, commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and commissioned corps of the Public Health Service"; (b) in section 1, by inserting…

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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Executive Order 11926 of July 19, 1976, as amended by Executive Order 13286 of February 28, 2003, is further amended as follows: (a) in section 1, by striking "and Coast Guard" and inserting in lieu thereof "Coast Guard, commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and commissioned corps of the Public Health Service"; (b) in section 1, by inserting ", or who have been assigned to perform duties predominantly for the Vice President for a period of at least one year subsequent to January 20, 2001, in the implementation of Public Law 93–346, as amended, or in military units and support facilities to which section 1 of Executive Order 12793 of March 20, 1992, as amended, refers" immediately preceding the period…

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ National Security & Defense 🏷️ Healthcare & Public Health
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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.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
40 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.

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
542
3,250 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
30.8
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.23
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document
📑Sections Outline (2 sections)
Sec. 1: Amendments to Executive Order 11926Sec. 2

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. #sec-1

Amendments to Executive Order 11926. Executive Order 11926 of July 19, 1976, as amended by Executive Order 13286 of February 28, 2003, is further amended as follows: (a) in section 1, by striking "and Coast Guard" and inserting in lieu thereof "Coast Guard, commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and commissioned corps of the Public Health Service"; (b) in section 1, by inserting ", or who have been assigned to perform duties predominantly for the Vice President for a period of at least one year subsequent to January 20, 2001, in the implementation of Public Law 93–346, as amended, or in military units and support facilities to which section 1 of Executive Order 12793 of March 20, 1992, as amended, refers" immediately preceding the period; (c) in section 2, by striking "Military Assistant to the Vice President" and inserting in lieu thereof "Vice President's designee (with the concurrence of the Director of the White House Military Office in the case of personnel in military units or support facilities to which section 1 of Executive Order 12793, as amended, refers)"; (d) in section 2, by inserting "and, in the case of members of the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service so assigned, by the Secretary of Commerce or the Secretary of Health and Human Services, respectively" immediately preceding the period; (e) in section 5, by adding at the end of the section "No award shall be made to an individual under this Order based on a period of service with respect to which, in whole or in part, the individual was awarded the Presidential Service Badge."; (f) in section 6, by striking "and Coast Guard," and inserting in lieu thereof "Coast Guard, commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and commissioned corps of the Public Health Service,"; (g) in section 6, by inserting ", or who has been assigned to perform duties predominantly for the Vice President, in the implementation of Public Law 93–346, as amended, or in military units and support facilities to which section 1 of Executive Order 12793, as amended, refers," after "Office of the Vice President"; (h) in section 6, by inserting ", unless otherwise directed by the Director of the White House Military Office in the case of personnel in military units or support facilities to which section 1 of Executive Order 12793, as amended, refers," after "is authorized"; (i) in section 6, by inserting "or her" after "his"; and (j) in section 6, by striking "first day of duty in the Office of the Vice President" and inserting in lieu thereof "first day of such duty".

Sec. 2. #sec-2

This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, entities, officers, employees or agents, or any other person. GEORGE W. BUSH The White House, March 10, 2005. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., March 11, 2005]

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

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

Amends Executive Order 14131—Amendments to Executive Orders Relating to Certain Certificates and Badges
Joseph R. Biden, Jr. • 2024-12-20
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 13,373, 70 Fed. Reg. 12,579 (Mar. 10, 2005).