Executive Order 13557 Constitutional Fidelity (+0.41)

Executive Order 13557—Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Justice

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Thursday, November 4, 2010

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2 min read (340 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 Barack Obama on 2010-11-04, 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 13481 of December 9, 2008, is revoked.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

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

Total Words

340

2,018 characters

Estimated Read Time

2 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.41

Framers' Alignment index

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 13557, Barack Obama (Nov 4, 2010). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-13557-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 District of Minnesota; and (c) United States Attorney for the District of Arizona. 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. Executive Order 13481 of December 9, 2008, is revoked. Sec. 4. 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. BARACK OBAMA The White House, November 4, 2010.