★
Executive Orders Historical Archive
Cite
Executive Order 13720 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.60) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 13720—Delegation of Certain Authorities and Assignment of Certain Functions under the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015

•
Friday, February 26, 2016
•
3 min read (510 words)
•
81 Fed. Reg. 11089

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (510 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The U.S. Trade Representative, with the advice and assistance of other executive departments and agencies involved in international programs to reduce poverty and eliminate hunger, shall perform the reporting function under section 701 of the Act.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners

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 February 26, 2016, this order concerns Delegation of Certain Authorities and Assignment of Certain Functions under the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015. Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), and (d) of this section, the authorities granted to and functions specifically assigned to the President under title I of the Act are delegated and assigned, respectively, to the United States Trade Representative (U.S. Trade Representative).

Constitutional Assessment: Reviewed under the Tenth Amendment and the principle of dual federalism, this order touches upon domains traditionally reserved to the sovereign States. The Framers would caution against any attempt to commandeer state officers or displace local police powers through federal executive fiat.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

▪
Reducing Poverty and Eliminating Hunger

The U.S. Trade Representative, with the advice and assistance of other executive departments and agencies involved in international programs to reduce poverty and eliminate hunger, shall perform the reporting function under section 701 of the Act.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities
🏛️

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)
§

"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 powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." — 10th Amendment to the US Constitution (1791)

Mason would scrutinize whether this federal directive intrudes into police powers, land stewardship, or municipal domains historically reserved to local citizens. The Anti-Federalist demand is that federal administration must never supplant state self-governance.

Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
📐

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
35 / 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

Low Friction

Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.

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%).
ℹ️
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
510
3,248 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
21.1
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.60
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 Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 (the "Act") (Public Law 114-27), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby order as follows:

Section 1 . #sec-1

Authorities and Functions under the Act . (a) Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), and (d) of this section, the authorities granted to and functions specifically assigned to the President under title I of the Act are delegated and assigned, respectively, to the United States Trade Representative (U.S. Trade Representative). (b) The exercise of the following authorities of, and functions specifically assigned to the President under title I of the Act are not delegated or assigned under this order: (i) section 104(c) of the Act; (ii) sections 105(a) and (b) of the Act; and (iii) sections 506A(d)(3)(B) and (d)(4)(C) of the Trade Act of 1974 (as amended by the Act). (c) The functions of the President under section 13(c) of the AGOA Acceleration Act of 2004, as added by section 109 of the Act, are assigned to the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, in collaboration with the Secretary of Agriculture. (d) The functions of the President under section 110(a) of the Act are assigned to the U.S. Trade Representative, in consultation with the Secretary of State.

Sec. 2 . #sec-2

Reducing Poverty and Eliminating Hunger . The U.S. Trade Representative, with the advice and assistance of other executive departments and agencies involved in international programs to reduce poverty and eliminate hunger, shall perform the reporting function under section 701 of the Act.

Sec. 3 . #sec-3

General Provisions . (a) In exercising authority delegated by or performing functions assigned in this order, officers of the United States: (i) shall ensure that all actions taken by them are consistent with the President's constitutional authority to (A) conduct the foreign affairs of the United States, including the commencement, conduct, and termination of negotiations with foreign countries and international organizations; (B) withhold information the disclosure of which could impair the foreign relations, the national security, the deliberative processes of the Executive, or the performance of the Executive's constitutional duties; (C) recommend for congressional consideration such measures as the President may judge necessary or expedient; and (D) supervise the executive branch; and (ii) may redelegate authority delegated by this order and may further assign functions assigned by this order to officers of any other department or agency within the executive branch to the extent permitted by law, and such redelegation or further assignment shall be published in the Federal Register . (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. (c) 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, February 26, 2016.

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 13,720, 81 Fed. Reg. 11,089 (Feb. 26, 2016).