Automated Sync Active • Database updated as of Recent • Browse All Orders →
★
Executive Orders Archive

Every President • 1789 to Present
Search orders...
Executive Order 12335 Constitutional Fidelity (+0.29)

Executive Order 12335—National Commission on Social Security Reform

Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan
•
Wednesday, December 16, 1981
•
3 min read (541 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 1981-12-16, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "National Commission on Social Security Reform." It outlines operative directives for executive department officers, delegating enforcement responsibilities and establishing official governance guidelines.

Constitutional Assessment: Evaluated against the Fifth Amendment, this action touches upon property or economic rights. An early statesman would insist upon strict adherence to due process of law and the constitutional guarantee that private holdings shall not be encumbered or taken for public purposes without just compensation and lawful process.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

▪ By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution of the United States of America, and to establish, in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C.
▪ The Commission shall be composed of fifteen members appointed or designated by the President and selected as follows: (1) Five members selected by the President from among officers or employees of the Executive Branch, private citizens of the United States, or both.
▪ Not more than three of the members selected by the President shall be members of the same political party; (2) Five members selected by the Majority Leader of the Senate from among members of the Senate, private citizens of the United States, or both.
▪ Any expenses of the Commission shall be paid from such funds as may be available to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
Total Words
541
3,405 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
15.3
Post-Grad reading level
Constitutional Polarity
+0.29
Framers' Alignment index
📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 12335, Ronald Reagan (Dec 16, 1981). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12335-national-commission-social-security-reform.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution of the United States of America, and to establish, in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App. I), the National Commission on Social Security Reform, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Establishment. (a) There is established the National Commission on Social Security Reform. The Commission shall be composed of fifteen members appointed or designated by the President and selected as follows: (1) Five members selected by the President from among officers or employees of the Executive Branch, private citizens of the United States, or both. Not more than three of the members selected by the President shall be members of the same political party; (2) Five members selected by the Majority Leader of the Senate from among members of the Senate, private citizens of the United States, or both. Not more than three of the members selected by the Majority Leader shall be members of the same political party; (3) Five members selected by the Speaker of the House of Representatives from among members of the House, private citizens of the United States, or both. Not more than three of the members selected by the Speaker shall be members of the same political party. (b) The President shall designate a Chairman from among the members of the Commission. Sec. 2. Functions. (a) The Commission shall review relevant analyses of the current and long-term financial condition of the Social Security trust funds; identify problems that may threaten the long-term solvency of such funds; analyze potential solutions to such problems that will both assure the financial integrity of the Social Security System and the provision of appropriate benefits; and provide appropriate recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the President, and the Congress. (b) The Commission shall make its report to the President by December 31, 1982. Sec. 3. Administration. (a) The heads of Executive agencies shall, to the extent permitted by law, provide the Commission such information as it may require for the purpose of carrying out its functions. (b) Members of the Commission shall serve without any additional compensation for their work on the Commission. However, members appointed from among private citizens of the United States may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law for persons serving intermittently in the government service (5 U.S.C. 5701-5707), to the extent funds are available therefor. (c) The Commission shall have a staff headed by an Executive Director. Any expenses of the Commission shall be paid from such funds as may be available to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Sec. 4. General. (a) Notwithstanding any other Executive Order, the responsibilities of the President under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended, except that of reporting annually to the Congress, which are applicable to the Commission, shall be performed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in accordance with the guidelines and procedures established by the Administrator of General Services. (b) The Commission shall terminate thirty days after submitting its report. RONALD REAGAN The White House, December 16, 1981. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 2:22 p.m., December 16, 1981]