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Executive Order 12607 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.44) 📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process

Executive Order 12607—President's Commission on Privatization

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Wednesday, September 2, 1987
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3 min read (623 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (623 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The Commission shall study and evaluate: (1) Past and current privatization efforts by the Federal government, State and local governments, and foreign governments, including asset sales by the Federal government; (2) Literature and writing on privatization; and (3) The environment for additional privatization efforts by the Federal government.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners Foreign Nations & International Entities

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

Signed by President Ronald Reagan on September 2, 1987, this order concerns President's Commission on Privatization. There is established the President's Commission on Privatization. The Commission shall be composed of not more than 13 members appointed or designated by the President. The members shall be drawn from among a bipartisan cross-section of distinguished leaders. (b) The President shall designate a Chairman from among the members of the Commission. Sec. 2. Functions.

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

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Functions

The Commission shall study and evaluate: (1) Past and current privatization efforts by the Federal government, State and local governments, and foreign governments, including asset sales by the Federal government; (2) Literature and writing on privatization; and (3) The environment for additional privatization efforts by the Federal government.

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Administration

The heads of Executive departments, agencies, and independent instrumentalities shall, to the extent permitted by law, provide the Commission, upon request, with such information as it may require for purposes of carrying out its functions.

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General Provision

Notwithstanding the provisions of any other Executive Order, the functions of the President under the Federal Advisory Committee Act that are applicable to the Commission, except that of reporting annually to the Congress, shall be performed by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in accordance with guidelines and procedures established by the Administrator of General Services; and (b) The Commission shall terminate 30 days after submitting its final report to the President.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities

Policy Areas & Topics

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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority)
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"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)

Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
AH

Alexander Hamilton

The Energetic Executive & Unified Command

"A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government." — Federalist No. 70 (1788)

Hamilton would view this directive as the natural and indispensable functioning of administrative leadership. Without the power to coordinate agencies, manage personnel, and resolve operational ambiguities, the modern presidency would be reduced to an impotent figurehead.

Hamiltonian Stance: Supportive of Execution
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The purse and the sword ought never to be in the same hands... nor the liberties of the citizen placed at the pleasure of a single magistrate." — Virginia Ratifying Convention (1788)

George Mason and the Anti-Federalists would sound a fierce warning. They feared that Article II would inevitably evolve into an elective monarchy. When an executive order impacts private rights, property, or civil liberties without individualized judicial process, Mason would see their darkest predictions verified.

Anti-Federalist Stance: High Bill of Rights Scrutiny
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Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions

An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
48 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

High Friction

Touches upon core congressional prerogatives: raises appropriations reallocation, tariff imposition, or statutory preemption questions.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Moderate Friction

Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

Moderate Friction

Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.

Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments

Due Process & Individual Rights

Moderate Friction

Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.

Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.

Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
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How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
623
4,191 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
19.8
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.44
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, and in order to establish, in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App. I), a Commission to review the appropriate division of responsibilities between the Federal government and the private sector, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. #sec-1

Establishment. (a) There is established the President's Commission on Privatization. The Commission shall be composed of not more than 13 members appointed or designated by the President. The members shall be drawn from among a bipartisan cross-section of distinguished leaders. (b) The President shall designate a Chairman from among the members of the Commission.

Sec. 2. #sec-2

Functions. (a) The Commission shall study and evaluate: (1) Past and current privatization efforts by the Federal government, State and local governments, and foreign governments, including asset sales by the Federal government; (2) Literature and writing on privatization; and (3) The environment for additional privatization efforts by the Federal government. (b) The Commission shall review the current activities of the Federal government, including asset holdings, and identify those functions that: (1) Are not properly the responsibility of the Federal government and should be divested or transferred to the private sector, with no residual involvement by the Federal government; or (2) Require continuing oversight by an Executive Branch agency but can be performed more efficiently by a private entity, including the use of vouchers as an alternative to direct service. (c) The Commission shall develop the framework for a privatization program, identifying: (1) Privatization opportunities, including those identified in (b) above, listed in order of priority; (2) Legislative and administrative actions necessary to effect the privatization initiatives or remove existing privatization restrictions; (3) Needed improvements to personnel and administrative policy to create an environment conducive to privatization; (4) Organizational and resource requirements necessary to implement successfully the privatization program; and (5) Actions necessary to create broadbased support for privatization efforts. (d) The Commission shall submit its findings and recommendations to the President and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget by March 1, 1988. Interim recommendations shall be transmitted to the Director for consideration in the formulation of the President's FY 1989 budget.

Sec. 3. #sec-3

Administration. (a) The heads of Executive departments, agencies, and independent instrumentalities shall, to the extent permitted by law, provide the Commission, upon request, with such information as it may require for purposes of carrying out its functions. (b) Members of the Commission shall serve without compensation for their work on the Commission. While engaged in the work of the Commission, 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). (c) To the extent provided by law and subject to the availability of appropriations, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall provide the Commission with such administrative services, funds, facilities, staff, and other support services as may be necessary for the performance of its functions.

Sec. 4. #sec-4

General Provision. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other Executive Order, the functions of the President under the Federal Advisory Committee Act that are applicable to the Commission, except that of reporting annually to the Congress, shall be performed by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in accordance with guidelines and procedures established by the Administrator of General Services; and (b) The Commission shall terminate 30 days after submitting its final report to the President. RONALD REAGAN The White House, September 2, 1987. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:57 a. m., September 8, 1987]

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (2)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 12,607 (Sept. 2, 1987), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12607-presidents-commission-privatization.