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Executive Order 12448 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 12448—Regulations Related to Voiding or Rescission of Contracts

Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan
•
Friday, November 4, 1983
•
2 min read (364 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 Ronald Reagan on 1983-11-04, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Regulations Related to Voiding or Rescission of Contracts." It outlines operative directives for executive department officers, delegating enforcement responsibilities and establishing official governance guidelines.

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

▪ The head of each Executive department, Military department and Executive agency is hereby delegated the authority vested in the President to declare void and rescind the transactions set forth in section 218 of title 18 of the United States Code in relation to which there has been a final conviction for any violation of chapter 11 of title 18.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
Total Words
364
2,263 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
26.3
Post-Grad reading level
Constitutional Polarity
+0.02
Framers' Alignment index
📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 12448, Ronald Reagan (Nov 4, 1983). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12448-regulations-related-voiding-or-rescission-contracts.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →
Exercise of Authority Under Section 218 of Title 18, United States Code By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and statutes of the United States of America, including section 218 of title 18 of the United States Code, and in order to provide federal agencies with the authority to promulgate regulations for voiding or rescinding contracts or other benefits obtained through bribery, graft or conflict of interest, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. The head of each Executive department, Military department and Executive agency is hereby delegated the authority vested in the President to declare void and rescind the transactions set forth in section 218 of title 18 of the United States Code in relation to which there has been a final conviction for any violation of chapter 11 of title 18. Sec. 2. The head of each Executive department and agency described in section 1 may exercise the authority hereby delegated by promulgating implementing regulations; provided that the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of General Services and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration jointly shall issue government-wide implementing regulations related to voiding or rescission of contracts. Sec. 3. Implementing regulations adopted pursuant to this Order shall, at a minimum, provide the following procedural protections: (a) Written notice of the proposed action shall be given in each case to the person or entity affected; (b) The person or entity affected shall be afforded an opportunity to submit pertinent information on its behalf before a final decision is made; (c) Upon the request of the person or entity affected, a hearing shall be held at which it shall have the opportunity to call witnesses on its behalf and confront any witness the agency may present; and (d) The head of the agency or his designee shall issue a final written decision specifying the amount of restitution or any other remedy authorized by section 218, provided that such remedy shall take into consideration the fair value of any tangible benefits received and retained by the agency. RONALD REAGAN The White House, November 4, 1983. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:02 a.m., November 7, 1983]