Executive Order 1142 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 1142—Influencing Legislation by Employees of the United States or Military Officers Stationed in Washington

•

Friday, November 26, 1909

•

1 min read (128 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 William Howard Taft on 1909-11-26, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Influencing Legislation by Employees of the United States or Military Officers Stationed in Washington." It is a direct, concise executive instruction delivering focused administrative or military commands to department leadership.

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

▪ Formal executive instruction issued by the President establishing official administrative policy on Influencing Legislation by Employees of the United States or Military Officers Stationed in Washington.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Total Words

128

743 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

28.2

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 1142, William Howard Taft (Nov 26, 1909). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-1142-influencing-legislation-employees-the-united-states-or-military.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

It is hereby ordered that no bureau, office, or division chief, or subordinate in any department of the Government, and no officer of the Army or Navy or Marine Corps stationed in Washington, shall apply to either House of Congress, or to any committee of either House of Congress, or to any Member of Congress, for legislation, or for appropriations, or for congressional action of any kind, except with the consent and knowledge of the head of the department; nor shall any such person respond to any request for information from either House of Congress, or any committee of either House of Congress, or any Member of Congress, except through, or as authorized by, the head of his department. WM. H. TAFT. The White House, November 26, 1909