Executive Order 13598 Constitutional Fidelity (+0.23)

Executive Order 13598—Assignment of Functions Relating to Certain Promotion and Appointment Actions in the Armed Forces

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Friday, January 27, 2012

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2 min read (329 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 2012-01-27, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Assignment of Functions Relating to Certain Promotion and Appointment Actions in the Armed Forces." 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

▪ Formal executive instruction issued by the President establishing official administrative policy on Assignment of Functions Relating to Certain Promotion and Appointment Actions in the Armed Forces.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

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

Total Words

329

1,960 characters

Estimated Read Time

2 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

18.1

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.23

Framers' Alignment index

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 13598, Barack Obama (Jan 27, 2012). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-13598-assignment-functions-relating-certain-promotion-and-appointment.

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 section 301 of title 3, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Assignment of Functions to the Secretary of Defense. The Secretary of Defense shall perform the functions of the President under the following provisions of title 10, United States Code: (a) the first sentence of section 14111(a) with respect to reports relating to the grades of brigadier general or above, or rear admiral (lower half) or above; (b) sections 629(c)(2) and 14310(c)(2) with respect to extending officer promotion eligibility periods; and (c) section 6222(c)(2) with respect to appointments of members of the Marine Band and members of the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps to grades not above the grade of captain. Sec. 2. Reassignment of Functions Assigned. The Secretary of Defense may reassign the functions assigned to him by sections 1(a) and (b) of this order only to civilian officers within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (as defined in section 131(b) of title 10, United States Code) who hold a position for which the President makes an appointment by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Secretary of Defense may not reassign the function assigned to him by section 1(c) of this order. Sec. 3. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to limit or otherwise affect the authority of the President as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, or under the Constitution and laws of the United States to nominate or to make or terminate appointments. (b) 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, January 27, 2012.