Reading Room Document

Whether, under Executive Order 11652, authority to exempt classified information and material from the general declassification schedule can be granted to an official independent of "Top Secret" classification authority?

The document is a memorandum discussing whether an official without "Top Secret" classification authority can be granted the authority to exempt classified information from the general declassification schedule under Executive Order 11652. The conclusion reached in the document is that such action would be inconsistent with the clear language and intent of the Executive Order, and contrary to uniform administrative interpretation since its issuance. The document presents the question of whether a formal amendment to the Order should be sought, and if so, what the substance of such an amendment should be, as a matter of policy.

July 30, 1974