Executive Order 12243 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 12243—Variable Housing Allowance

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Friday, October 3, 1980

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1 min read (235 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 Jimmy Carter on 1980-10-03, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Variable Housing Allowance." 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

▪ 403 note); a member shall be deemed to be living in a "high housing cost area" whenever the estimated average monthly cost of housing, including utilities, appropriate for the member's grade, exceeds 115 percent of the amount of the basic allowance for quarters of that member.".

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Total Words

235

1,394 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

15.6

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 12243, Jimmy Carter (Oct 3, 1980). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12243-variable-housing-allowance.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

By the authority vested in me as President of the United States of America under Section 403 of Title 37 of the United States Code and under Section 4 of the Military Personnel and Compensation Amendments of 1980, and in order to provide for the implementation of a variable housing allowance, Section 403 of Executive Order No. 11157, as amended, is hereby further amended by adding thereto the following new subsections (c) and (d): "(c) For purposes of Section 403 of Title 37 of the United States Code, a member shall be deemed to be living in a "high housing cost area" whenever the average monthly cost of housing, including utilities, for housing appropriate for the member's grade, exceeds 115 percent of the amount of the basic allowance for quarters of that member." "(d) During fiscal year 1981, members may be paid a variable housing allowance as permitted by Section 4(c) of the Military Personnel and Compensation Amendments of 1980 (94 Stat. 1125; Public Law 96-343; 37 U.S.C. 403 note); a member shall be deemed to be living in a "high housing cost area" whenever the estimated average monthly cost of housing, including utilities, appropriate for the member's grade, exceeds 115 percent of the amount of the basic allowance for quarters of that member.". JIMMY CARTER The White House, October 3, 1980. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 3:34 p.m., October 3, 1980]