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Executive Order 12640 Revoked ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 12640—The President's Committee on Employment of People With Disabilities

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Tuesday, May 10, 1988
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8 min read (1,572 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 8 min read (1,572 words) • ● Revoked
🎯 Primary Mandate

The President's Committee shall provide advice and information as to the development of maximum employment opportunities for people who are physically disabled, mentally retarded, and mentally ill.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

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 May 10, 1988, this order concerns The President's Committee on Employment of People With Disabilities. There is hereby established the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities (hereinafter referred to as the Committee or as the President's Committee). (b) The Committee shall be composed of a Chairman and not more than four Vice Chairmen, who shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the President, and of so many other members as may be appointed thereto from time to time by the…

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

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Functions of the Committee

The President's Committee shall provide advice and information as to the development of maximum employment opportunities for people who are physically disabled, mentally retarded, and mentally ill.

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Executive Committee

There is hereby established the Executive Committee of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities.

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Advisory Council

There is hereby established the Advisory Council on Employment of People with Disabilities, which shall advise the President's Committee with respect to the responsibilities of the Committee.

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Administrative and Incidental Matters

The President's Committee, the Executive Committee, and the Advisory Council shall each meet on call of the Chairman of the President's Committee at a time and place designated by the Chairman.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
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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 2 (Zone of Twilight)
§

"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)

Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.

Madisonian Stance: Vigilant / Cautionary
AH

Alexander Hamilton

The Energetic Executive & Unified Command

"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)

Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.

Hamiltonian Stance: Strong Prerogative Support
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)

The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.

Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
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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
62 / 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

High Friction

Creates friction with the Tenth Amendment by conditioning state grants, mandating local compliance, or preempting state police powers.

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

Moderate Friction

The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.

Benchmark: Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
⚖️ 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
1,572
10,315 characters
Estimated Read Time
8 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
19.2
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, and in order to provide for the carrying out of the provisions of the Joint Resolution approved July 11, 1949, ch. 302, 63 Stat. 409, as amended, and the provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, P.L. 93-112, Section 501 (a)-(f), as amended, it is ordered as follows:

Section 1. #sec-1

Establishment and Composition of the President's Committee. (a) There is hereby established the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities (hereinafter referred to as the Committee or as the President's Committee). (b) The Committee shall be composed of a Chairman and not more than four Vice Chairmen, who shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the President, and of so many other members as may be appointed thereto from time to time by the Chairman of the President's Committee from among persons (including representatives of organizations) who can contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the Committee. Members appointed by the Chairman shall be appointed for a term of 3 years and may be reappointed. The Chairman of the President's Committee may at any time terminate the service of any member of the President's Committee, except any member appointed by the President. (e) The Chairman of the President's Committee, upon the advice of the Executive Committee (hereinafter provided for), may designate as, or invite to be, associate members of the President's Committee any heads of Federal departments or agencies that have responsibility for training and rehabilitation services or advocate activities touching the field of interest of the Committee or that are leading employers of individuals with disabilities. (d) Representatives of business, industry, labor, private organizations, public agencies, other concerned organizations, and individuals with disabilities who are not members may be invited to attend meetings of the Committee.

Sec. 2. #sec-2

Functions of the Committee. The President's Committee shall provide advice and information as to the development of maximum employment opportunities for people who are physically disabled, mentally retarded, and mentally ill. To this end the Committee shall advise the President as to information that can be used by employers, labor unions, and national and international organizations, suggest programs for public education, and suggest methods of enlisting cooperation among organizations and agencies, Federal, State, and local officials, Governors' and local Committees on Employment of People with Disabilities, professional organizations, organized labor, and appropriate international organizations. In carrying out these functions vested in it by the Rehabilitation Act, as amended, the Committee shall be guided by the general policies of the National Council on the Handicapped and shall work closely with the Department of Labor, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Veterans' Administration, State employment security agencies, and State vocational rehabilitation agencies.

Sec. 3. #sec-3

Executive Committee. (a) There is hereby established the Executive Committee of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. The Executive Committee shall be composed of the Chairman of the President's Committee, who shall also be the Chairman of the Executive Committee, the Vice Chairman of the President's Committee, and so many additional members as will provide an Executive Committee of not less than 15 and not more than 30 members. The said additional members shall be appointed for a term of 3 years by the Chairman of the President's Committee from among the members of the President's Committee or othorwise. The Chairman of the President's Committee may at any time terminate the service of any member of the Executive Committee. (b) The Executive Committee shall advise and assist the Chairman of the President's Committee in the conduct of the business of the President's Committee and, as authorized by the President's Committee or the Chairman thereof (with due regard for the responsibilities of other Federal agencies), shall study the problems of people with disabilities in obtaining and retaining suitable employment, invite authorities in the various professional, technical, and other pertinent fields to advise it in the exploration of those problems, and review plans and projects for advocating the employment of people with disabilities.

Sec. 4. #sec-4

Advisory Council. There is hereby established the Advisory Council on Employment of People with Disabilities, which shall advise the President's Committee with respect to the responsibilities of the Committee. The Council shall be composed of the Chairman of the President's Committee, who shall also be the Chairman of the Council, and of the following-named officers, or their respective alternates: Secretary of State; Secretary of the Treasury; Secretary of Defense; The Attorney General; Secretary of the Interior; Secretary of Agriculture; Secretary of Commerce; Secretary of Labor; Secretary of Health and Human Services; Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; Secretary of Transportation; Secretary of Education; Chairman, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; Administrator of General Services; Director, Office of Personnel Management; Director, United States Information Agency; Administrator of Veterans' Affairs; and The Postmaster General.

Sec. 5. #sec-5

Administrative and Incidental Matters. (a) The President's Committee, the Executive Committee, and the Advisory Council shall each meet on call of the Chairman of the President's Committee at a time and place designated by the Chairman. In the case of the President's Committee and the Executive Committee, the Chairman shall call at least one meeting and two meetings, respectively, to be held during each calendar year. (b) In the absence of designation by the President, the Chairman of the President's Committee may from time to time designate a Vice Chairman of the President's Committee to be one or more of the following-named in the absence of the Chairman: Acting Chairman of the President's Committee, Acting Chairman of the Executive Committee, and Acting Chairman of the Advisory Council. The Chairman of the President's Committee shall from time to time assign other duties to the Vice Chairmen thereof. (c) The Chairman of the President's Committee shall on behalf of the President direct the President's Committee and its functions. (d) The Chairman may from time to time prescribe such necessary rules, procedures, and policies relating to the President's Committee, the Executive Committee, and the Advisory Council, and to their affairs, as are not inconsistent with law or with the provisions of this Order. (e) The Vice Chairmen shall advise and counsel the Committee and shall represent the Committee on appropriate occasions. (f) All members (including the Chairman and Vice Chairmen) of the President's Committee, the Executive Committee, and the Advisory Council shall serve without compensation. The Chairman and the Vice Chairmen of the President's Committee may receive transportation and per diem allowances as authorized by law for persons serving without compensation. Persons with disabilities serving as Chairman or Vice Chairmen may be compensated for attendant expenses, consistent with government procedures and practices. (g) Employees of the President's Committee shall be appointed, subject to law, and shall be directed by the Chairman of the Committee. To such extent as may be mutually arranged by the Chairman of the Committee and the Secretary of Labor, employees of the Committee shall be subject to the administrative rules, regulations, and procedures of the Department of Labor. (h) The Department of Labor is requested to make available to the President's Committee necessary office space and to furnish the Committee, under such arrangements respecting financing as may be appropriate, necessary equipment, supplies, and services. The estimates of appropriations for the operations of the Committee shall be included within the framework of the appropriations structure of the Department of Labor, in such manner as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget may prescribe. The Chairman of the Committee, in cooperation with the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management of the Department of Labor, shall be responsible for the preparation and justification of the estimates of appropriations for the Committee.

Sec. 6. #sec-6

Reporting. The President's Committee shall report annually to the President, who may apprise the Congress, and other interested organizations and individuals on the progress and problems of maximizing employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

Sec. 7. #sec-7

Prior Orders; Transition. (a) To the extent that this Order is inconsistent with any provision of any prior order, or with any provisions of any regulation or other measure or disposition, heretofore issued, made, or taken by the President or by any other officer of the Executive branch of the Government, this Order shall control. Executive Order No. 11480 of September 9, 1969, as amended, is hereby superseded. (b) Without further action by the President or the Chairman of the Committee, all members, employees, records, property, funds, and pending business of the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped provided for in Executive Order No. 11480 of September 9, 1969, as amended, shall on the date of this Order become members, employees, records, property, funds, and pending business of the Committee established by this Order. (c) The tenure of persons as members of the Committee in pursuance of the provisions of section 7(b) of this Order, (i), in the case of persons appointed to the predecessor Committee by the President, shall be at the pleasure of the President, and (ii), in the case of other members, shall be for periods equal to their respective unexpired terms under Executive Order No. 11480, as amended, but shall also be subject to the provisions of the last sentence of Section l(b) of this Order. RONALD REAGAN The White House, May 10, 1988. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:49 a.m., May 11, 1988]

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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. 12,640 (May 10, 1988), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12640-the-presidents-committee-employment-people-with-disabilities.