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Executive Order 13736 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.41) 📜 Art. II §3: Faithful Execution of Statutory Law

Executive Order 13736—Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Veterans Affairs

Barack Obama

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Friday, August 12, 2016

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2 min read (459 words)

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81 Fed. Reg. 54711

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (459 words) • ● In Effect

🎯 Primary Mandate

Subject to the provisions of section 2 of this order and to the limitations set forth in the Act, the following officials of the Department of Veterans Affairs, in the order listed, shall act as Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Secretary) and perform the functions and duties of the office of the Secretary during any period in which both the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs have died, resigned, or otherwise become unable to perform the functions and duties of the office of Secretary: (a) Under Secretary for Health; (b) Under Secretary for Benefits; (c) Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs; (d) Chief of Staff; (e) General Counsel and Assistant Secretaries, with precedence among them in the order, by date, of their…

View all 3 directives ↓

⚖️ Constitutional Footing

🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority

Express or Implied Congressional Authorization

📜 Art. II §3: Faithful Execution of Statutory Law

Framers' constitutional debate ↓

🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors

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

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 Barack Obama on August 12, 2016, this order concerns Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Veterans Affairs. Section 1. Order of Succession . Subject to the provisions of section 2 of this order and to the limitations set forth in the Act, the following officials of the Department of Veterans Affairs, in the order listed, shall act as Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Secretary) and perform the functions and duties of the office of the Secretary during any period in which both the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary of…

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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Order of Succession

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Exceptions

No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 1(a)-(j) of this order in an acting capacity shall, by virtue of so serving, act as Secretary pursuant to this order.

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Revocations

Executive Order 13247 of December 18, 2001, is hereby revoked; (b) Section 4(g) of Executive Order 13261 of March 19, 2002, is hereby revoked; (c) Presidential Memorandum of March 19, 2002 (Designation of Officers of the Department of Veterans Affairs), is hereby revoked; and (d) Presidential Memorandum of February 12, 2003 (Designation of Officers of the Department of Veterans Affairs to Act as Secretary of Veterans Affairs), is hereby revoked.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

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

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ National Security & Defense

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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)

"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

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)

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

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

📐

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

39 / 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

High Friction

Creates friction with the Tenth Amendment by conditioning state grants, mandating local compliance, or preempting state police powers.

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

459

2,785 characters

Estimated Read Time

2 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

21.3

Post-Graduate Legal

Language Tone Score

+0.41

Constitutional Fidelity

How is this scored?

Text size:

Official Archival Text

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📑Sections Outline (4 sections)

Sec. 1: Order of Succession Sec. 2: Exceptions Sec. 3: Revocations Sec. 4: Judicial Review

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, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 3345 et seq . (the "Act"), it is hereby ordered that:

Section 1. #sec-1

Order of Succession . Subject to the provisions of section 2 of this order and to the limitations set forth in the Act, the following officials of the Department of Veterans Affairs, in the order listed, shall act as Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Secretary) and perform the functions and duties of the office of the Secretary during any period in which both the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs have died, resigned, or otherwise become unable to perform the functions and duties of the office of Secretary: (a) Under Secretary for Health; (b) Under Secretary for Benefits; (c) Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs; (d) Chief of Staff; (e) General Counsel and Assistant Secretaries, with precedence among them in the order, by date, of their appointments and, if on the same date, in the order in which they have taken the oath of office; (f) Chairman, Board of Veterans' Appeals; (g) Network Director, Veterans Integrated Service Network 8; (h) Network Director, Veterans Integrated Service Network 7; (i) Director, Southern Area, Veterans Benefits Administration; and (j) Network Director, Veterans Integrated Service Network 19.

Sec. 2 . #sec-2

Exceptions . (a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 1(a)-(j) of this order in an acting capacity shall, by virtue of so serving, act as Secretary pursuant to this order. (b) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 1(a)-(j) of this order shall act as Secretary unless that individual is otherwise eligible to so serve under the Act. (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of this order, the President retains discretion, to the extent permitted by law, to depart from this order in designating an acting Secretary.

Sec. 3 . #sec-3

Revocations . (a) Executive Order 13247 of December 18, 2001, is hereby revoked; (b) Section 4(g) of Executive Order 13261 of March 19, 2002, is hereby revoked; (c) Presidential Memorandum of March 19, 2002 (Designation of Officers of the Department of Veterans Affairs), is hereby revoked; and (d) Presidential Memorandum of February 12, 2003 (Designation of Officers of the Department of Veterans Affairs to Act as Secretary of Veterans Affairs), is hereby revoked.

Sec. 4 . #sec-4

Judicial Review . 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, August 12, 2016.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 13,736, 81 Fed. Reg. 54,711 (Aug. 12, 2016).