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Executive Order 13683 Partially revoked 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.23) 📜 Art. II §3: Faithful Execution of Statutory Law

Executive Order 13683—Further Amendments to Executive Order 11030, Executive Order 13653, and Executive Order 13673

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Thursday, December 11, 2014
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3 min read (637 words)
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79 Fed. Reg. 75041

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (637 words) • ● Partially revoked
🎯 Primary Mandate

Except as may be otherwise provided by law, responsibility for the preparation and presentation of proposed proclamations calling for the observance of special days, or other periods of time, or events shall be assigned by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to such agencies or offices as the Director may consider appropriate.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. II §3: Faithful Execution of Statutory Law
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 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 December 11, 2014, this order concerns Further Amendments to Executive Order 11030, Executive Order 13653, and Executive Order 13673. Executive Order 11030 of June 19, 1962, as amended (Preparation, Presentation, Filing, and Publication of Executive Orders and Proclamations), is further amended as follows: (a) in section 1(f), by striking "inches" where it appears after the phrase "approximately 1" and inserting "inch"; (b) in section 4, to read as follows: " Sec. 4 . Proclamations calling for the observance of special days or events .

Constitutional Assessment: An early statesman would view this measure favorably under Article II, Section 3 (the Take Care Clause). The President operates strictly within the ambit of executing established laws and supervising departmental subordinates, respecting the supremacy of the legislative branch without fabricating novel statutory obligations.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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Proclamations calling for the observance of special days or events

Except as may be otherwise provided by law, responsibility for the preparation and presentation of proposed proclamations calling for the observance of special days, or other periods of time, or events shall be assigned by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to such agencies or offices as the Director may consider appropriate.

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Trade Proclamations

Proclamations to be issued under the Trade Act of 1974 or other trade law ("trade proclamations") shall be prepared by the United States Trade Representative and submitted to the Attorney General for consideration as to both form and legality.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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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

"A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government." — Federalist No. 70 (1788)

Hamilton would view this directive as the natural and indispensable functioning of administrative leadership. Without the power to coordinate agencies, manage personnel, and resolve operational ambiguities, the modern presidency would be reduced to an impotent figurehead.

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
36 / 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

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 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
637
3,927 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
18.4
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, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1 . #sec-1

Executive Order 11030 of June 19, 1962, as amended (Preparation, Presentation, Filing, and Publication of Executive Orders and Proclamations), is further amended as follows: (a) in section 1(f), by striking "inches" where it appears after the phrase "approximately 1" and inserting "inch"; (b) in section 4, to read as follows: "

Sec. 4 . #sec-4

Proclamations calling for the observance of special days or events . Except as may be otherwise provided by law, responsibility for the preparation and presentation of proposed proclamations calling for the observance of special days, or other periods of time, or events shall be assigned by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to such agencies or offices as the Director may consider appropriate. Such proposed proclamations shall be submitted to the Director, or to an office within the Executive Office of the President designated by the Director, at least sixty days before the date of the specified observance. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 2, the Director or the head of such designated office, as appropriate, shall transmit any approved commemorative proclamations to the President."; (c) by inserting a new section 5 to read as follows: "

Sec. 5 . #sec-5

Trade Proclamations . (a) Proclamations to be issued under the Trade Act of 1974 or other trade law ("trade proclamations") shall be prepared by the United States Trade Representative and submitted to the Attorney General for consideration as to both form and legality. Section 2 of this order does not apply to trade proclamations. (b) If the proposed trade proclamation is disapproved by the Attorney General, it shall not thereafter be presented to the President unless it is accompanied by a statement of the reasons for such disapproval."; and (d) by renumbering current sections 5, 6, and 7 as 6, 7, and 8, respectively.

Sec. 2 . #sec-2

Executive Order 13653 of November 1, 2013 (Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change), is amended as follows: (a) in section 6(b): (i) by inserting ", and the Director of OMB" after the phrase "the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism"; (ii) by striking the "and" preceding "the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism"; (iii) by striking "(xxviii) the Office of Management and Budget;"; and (iv) by renumbering current subsections (xxix), (xxx), and (xxxi) as (xxviii), (xxix), and (xxx), respectively; and (b) in section 6(d), to read as follows: "(d) Council Structure. The Co-Chairs may designate a subset of members of the Council to serve on a Steering Committee to help determine priorities and strategic direction for the Council. The Co Chairs and Steering Committee may establish working groups as needed, and may recharter working groups of the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force, as appropriate.".

Sec. 3 . #sec-3

Section 2(a)(i)(I) of Executive Order 13673 of July 31, 2014 (Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces), is amended to read as follows: "(I) the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1972 and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974;".

Sec. 4 . #sec-4-2

General Provisions . (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an agency or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) 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, December 11, 2014.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

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

Donald J. Trump (1st Term) • 2017-03-27
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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 13,683, 79 Fed. Reg. 75,041 (Dec. 11, 2014).