Executive Order 13775 Constitutional Fidelity (+0.41)

Executive Order 13775—Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Justice

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Thursday, February 9, 2017

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2 min read (357 words)

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

This executive order, signed by President Donald J. Trump (1st Term) on 2017-02-09, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Justice." It outlines operative directives for executive department officers, delegating enforcement responsibilities and establishing official governance guidelines.

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

▪ Subject to the provisions of section 2 of this order, the following officers, in the order listed, shall act as and perform the functions and duties of the office of Attorney General during any period in which the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, the Associate Attorney General, and any officers designated by the Attorney General pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

▪ Executive Order 13762 of January 13, 2017, is revoked.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Total Words

357

2,095 characters

Estimated Read Time

2 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

15.6

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.41

Framers' Alignment index

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 13775, Donald J. Trump (1st Term) (Feb 9, 2017). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-13775-providing-order-succession-within-the-department-justice.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

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, 5 U.S.C. 3345 et seq ., it is hereby ordered that: Section 1 . Order of Succession . Subject to the provisions of section 2 of this order, the following officers, in the order listed, shall act as and perform the functions and duties of the office of Attorney General during any period in which the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, the Associate Attorney General, and any officers designated by the Attorney General pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 508 to act as Attorney General, have died, resigned, or otherwise become unable to perform the functions and duties of the office of Attorney General, until such time as at least one of the officers mentioned above is able to perform the functions and duties of that office: (a) United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; (b) United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and (c) United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri. Sec. 2 . Exceptions . (a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 1 of this order in an acting capacity, by virtue of so serving, shall act as Attorney General pursuant to this order. (b) No individual listed in section 1 shall act as Attorney General unless that individual is otherwise eligible to so serve under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998. (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 Attorney General. Sec. 3 . Revocation of Executive Order . Executive Order 13762 of January 13, 2017, is revoked. Sec. 4 . General Provision . 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. DONALD J. TRUMP THE WHITE HOUSE, February 9, 2017.