Executive Order 12619 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 12619—Half-Day Closing of Government Departments and Agencies on Thursday,

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Thursday, December 24, 1987

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1 min read (214 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 1987-12-24, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Half-Day Closing of Government Departments and Agencies on Thursday,." 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

▪ All Executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty for the last half of the scheduled workday on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1987, except as provided in Section 2 below.

▪ Thursday, December 24, 1987, shall be considered as falling within the scope of Executive Order No.

▪ This Order shall apply to Federal departments and agencies only and is not intended to direct or otherwise implicate departments or agencies of State or local governments.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Total Words

214

1,288 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

12.3

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 12619, Ronald Reagan (Dec 24, 1987). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12619-half-day-closing-government-departments-and-agencies-thursday.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. All Executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty for the last half of the scheduled workday on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1987, except as provided in Section 2 below. Sec. 2. The heads of Executive departments and agencies may determine that certain offices and installations of their organizations, or parts thereof, must remain open and that certain employees must remain on duty for the full scheduled workday on December 24, 1987, for reasons of national security or defense or for other essential public reasons. Sec. 3. Thursday, December 24, 1987, shall be considered as falling within the scope of Executive Order No. 11582 and of 5 U.S.C. 5546 and 6103(b) and other similar statutes insofar as they relate to the pay and leave of employees of the United States. Sec. 4. This Order shall apply to Federal departments and agencies only and is not intended to direct or otherwise implicate departments or agencies of State or local governments. RONALD REAGAN The White House, December 22, 1987. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:33 a.m., December 23, 1987]