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Executive Order 13671 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.32) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 13671—Taking Additional Steps To Address the National Emergency With Respect to the Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

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Tuesday, July 8, 2014
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6 min read (1,134 words)
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79 Fed. Reg. 39949

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 6 min read (1,134 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq .), section 5 of the United Nations Participation Act (22 U.S.C. 287c) (UNPA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I, Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, in order to take additional steps to deal with the national emergency with respect to the situation in or in relation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared in Executive Order 13413 of October 27, 2006, in view of multiple United Nations Security Council Resolutions including, most recently, Resolution 2136 of January 30, 2014, and in light of the continuation of activities that threaten the peace, security, or stability of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the surrounding region…

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ 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 Barack Obama on July 8, 2014, this order concerns Taking Additional Steps To Address the National Emergency With Respect to the Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq .), section 5 of the United Nations Participation Act (22 U.S.C. 287c) (UNPA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I, Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, in order to take additional steps to deal with the national emergency with respect to the situation in or in relation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared in Executive…

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 National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq .), section 5 of the United Nations Participation Act (22 U.S.C. 287c) (UNPA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I, Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, in order to take additional steps to deal with the national emergency with respect to the situation in or in relation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared in Executive Order 13413 of October 27, 2006, in view of multiple United Nations Security Council Resolutions including, most recently, Resolution 2136 of January 30, 2014, and in light of the continuation of activities that threaten the peace, security, or stability of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the surrounding region…

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Subsection (a) of section 1 of Executive Order 13413 is hereby amended to read as follows: "(a) All property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of any United States person (including any foreign branch) of the following persons are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in: (i) the persons listed in the Annex to this order; and (ii) any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State: (A) to be a political or military leader of a foreign armed group operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that impedes the…

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New subsection (d) is hereby added to section 1 of Executive Order 13413 to read as follows: "(d) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section apply except to the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the effective date of this order." Sec. 3 .

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Of Executive Order 13413 is hereby amended to read as follows: "Sec. 2.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities
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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
57 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

High Friction

Touches upon core congressional prerogatives: raises appropriations reallocation, tariff imposition, or statutory preemption questions.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

High Friction

Invokes broad unilateral or emergency executive authorities that test the constitutional boundary of the Take Care Clause.

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
1,134
7,093 characters
Estimated Read Time
6 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
33.5
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.32
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document
📑Sections Outline (6 sections)

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq .) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq .), section 5 of the United Nations Participation Act (22 U.S.C. 287c) (UNPA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I, Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, in order to take additional steps to deal with the national emergency with respect to the situation in or in relation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared in Executive Order 13413 of October 27, 2006, in view of multiple United Nations Security Council Resolutions including, most recently, Resolution 2136 of January 30, 2014, and in light of the continuation of activities that threaten the peace, security, or stability of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the surrounding region, including operations by armed groups, widespread violence and atrocities, human rights abuses, recruitment and use of child soldiers, attacks on peacekeepers, obstruction of humanitarian operations, and exploitation of natural resources to finance persons engaged in these activities, hereby order:

Section 1 . #sec-1

Subsection (a) of section 1 of Executive Order 13413 is hereby amended to read as follows: "(a) All property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of any United States person (including any foreign branch) of the following persons are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in: (i) the persons listed in the Annex to this order; and (ii) any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State: (A) to be a political or military leader of a foreign armed group operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that impedes the disarmament, demobilization, voluntary repatriation, resettlement, or reintegration of combatants; (B) to be a political or military leader of a Congolese armed group that impedes the disarmament, demobilization, voluntary repatriation, resettlement, or reintegration of combatants; (C) to be responsible for or complicit in, or to have engaged in, directly or indirectly, any of the following in or in relation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo: (1) actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, or stability of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; (2) actions or policies that undermine democratic processes or institutions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; (3) the targeting of women, children, or any civilians through the commission of acts of violence (including killing, maiming, torture, or rape or other sexual violence), abduction, forced displacement, or attacks on schools, hospitals, religious sites, or locations where civilians are seeking refuge, or through conduct that would constitute a serious abuse or violation of human rights or a violation of international humanitarian law; (4) the use or recruitment of children by armed groups or armed forces in the context of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; (5) the obstruction of the delivery or distribution of, or access to, humanitarian assistance; (6) attacks against United Nations missions, international security presences, or other peacekeeping operations; or (7) support to persons, including armed groups, involved in activities that threaten the peace, security, or stability of the Democratic Republic of the Congo or that undermine democratic processes or institutions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, through the illicit trade in natural resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; (D) except where intended for the authorized support of humanitarian activities or the authorized use by or support of peacekeeping, international, or government forces, to have directly or indirectly supplied, sold, or transferred to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or been the recipient in the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo of, arms and related materiel, including military aircraft and equipment, or advice, training, or assistance, including financing and financial assistance, related to military activities; (E) to be a leader of (i) an entity, including any armed group, that has, or whose members have, engaged in any of the activities described in subsections (a)(ii)(A) through (a)(ii)(D) of this section or (ii) an entity whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; (F) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, logistical, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of (i) any of the activities described in subsections (a)(ii)(A) through (a)(ii)(D) of this section or (ii) any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; or (G) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order."

Sec. 2 . #sec-2

New subsection (d) is hereby added to section 1 of Executive Order 13413 to read as follows: "(d) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section apply except to the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the effective date of this order."

Sec. 3 . #sec-3

Section 2 of Executive Order 13413 is hereby amended to read as follows: "Sec. 2. (a) Any transaction that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited. (b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited."

Sec. 4 . #sec-4

The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA and the UNPA, as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order and Executive Order 13413, as amended by this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate any of these functions to other officers and agencies of the United States Government consistent with applicable law.

Sec. 5 . #sec-5

All agencies of the United States Government are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order and Executive Order 13413, as amended by this order.

Sec. 6 . #sec-6

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, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. BARACK OBAMA The White House, July 8, 2014.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 13,671, 79 Fed. Reg. 39,949 (July 8, 2014).