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Executive Order 12748 Partially revoked 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 12748—Providing for Federal Pay Adminstration

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Friday, February 1, 1991
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4 min read (824 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 4 min read (824 words) • ● Partially revoked
🎯 Primary Mandate

The Secretary of Labor, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management are hereby designated under section 5304(d)(1) of title 5, United States Code, as amended by FEPCA, to serve jointly as the President's agent under section 5304 of title 5, United States Code, and shall be known in this capacity as the President's Pay Agent.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

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

Signed by President George Bush on February 1, 1991, this order concerns Providing for Federal Pay Adminstration. The following agencies are designated under section 5303(g) of title 5, United States Code, as amended by FEPCA, to prescribe conversion rules for the initial adjustment of rates of pay to be applied during each annual adjustment of pay schedules under section 5303 of title 5, United Stated Code: (a) the Office of Personnel Management, for the General Schedule; (b) the Department of State, for the Foreign Service…

Constitutional Assessment: Reviewed under the Tenth Amendment and the principle of dual federalism, this order touches upon domains traditionally reserved to the sovereign States. The Framers would caution against any attempt to commandeer state officers or displace local police powers through federal executive fiat.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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Locality-based Comparability Payments

The Secretary of Labor, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management are hereby designated under section 5304(d)(1) of title 5, United States Code, as amended by FEPCA, to serve jointly as the President's agent under section 5304 of title 5, United States Code, and shall be known in this capacity as the President's Pay Agent.

▪
Special Pay Authority

The Office of Personnel Management is hereby authorized and designated, pursuant to section 5305(a) of title 5, United States Code, as amended by section 101 of FEPCA, to exercise the authorities of the President under section 5305 of title 5, United States Code, concerning higher rates of pay.

▪
Previous Order Revoked

Executive Order No. 11721, as amended, is revoked.

▪
Advance Payments for New Appointees

Section 2(b) of Executive Order No. 10982, as amended, is further amended to read as follows: "(b) The Office of Personnel Management is hereby designated and empowered to perform the functions conferred upon the President by the provisions of section 5527 of title 5, United States Code, with respect to allotments and assignments authorized by section 5525 of title 5, United States Code, and advance payments to new appointees authorized by section 5524a of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 107(a) of the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990, as incorporated in section 529 of Public Law 101-509." Sec. 6.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities
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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)
§

"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 powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." — 10th Amendment to the US Constitution (1791)

Mason would scrutinize whether this federal directive intrudes into police powers, land stewardship, or municipal domains historically reserved to local citizens. The Anti-Federalist demand is that federal administration must never supplant state self-governance.

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
36 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.

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

Low Friction

Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.

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%).
ℹ️
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
824
5,143 characters
Estimated Read Time
4 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
18
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constutition and the laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 (hereinafter "FEPCA"), as incorporated in section 529 of Public Law 101-509, and sections 3301 and 3302 of title 5, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. #sec-1

Annual Adjustments to Pay Schedules. The following agencies are designated under section 5303(g) of title 5, United States Code, as amended by FEPCA, to prescribe conversion rules for the initial adjustment of rates of pay to be applied during each annual adjustment of pay schedules under section 5303 of title 5, United Stated Code: (a) the Office of Personnel Management, for the General Schedule; (b) the Department of State, for the Foreign Service Schedule; and (c) the Department of Veterans Affairs, for the Veterans Health Services and Research Administration Schedules.

Sec. 2. #sec-2

Locality-based Comparability Payments. (a) The Secretary of Labor, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management are hereby designated under section 5304(d)(1) of title 5, United States Code, as amended by FEPCA, to serve jointly as the President's agent under section 5304 of title 5, United States Code, and shall be known in this capacity as the President's Pay Agent. (b) The head of each executive agency employing personnel under a statutory pay system, as defined in section 5303(1) of title 5, United States Code, as amended by FEPCA, shall provide such information and assistance as may be requested by the President's Pay Agent in carrying out the provisions of section 5304 of title 5, United States Code.

Sec. 3. #sec-3

Special Pay Authority. (a) The Office of Personnel Management is hereby authorized and designated, pursuant to section 5305(a) of title 5, United States Code, as amended by section 101 of FEPCA, to exercise the authorities of the President under section 5305 of title 5, United States Code, concerning higher rates of pay. (b) Before exercising the delegated authorities under subsection (a) regarding employees in positions other than those covered by the General Schedule, the Office of personnel Management shall consult with the head of the agency employing such employees.

Sec. 4. #sec-4

Previous Order Revoked. Executive Order No. 11721, as amended, is revoked.

Sec. 5. #sec-5

Advance Payments for New Appointees. Section 2(b) of Executive Order No. 10982, as amended, is further amended to read as follows: "(b) The Office of Personnel Management is hereby designated and empowered to perform the functions conferred upon the President by the provisions of section 5527 of title 5, United States Code, with respect to allotments and assignments authorized by section 5525 of title 5, United States Code, and advance payments to new appointees authorized by section 5524a of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 107(a) of the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990, as incorporated in section 529 of Public Law 101-509."

Sec. 6. #sec-6

Extension of Cash Awards, Recruitment and Relocation Bonuses, and Retention Allowances. The Office of Personnel Management is hereby designated and empowered to exercise the authority of the President under: (a) section 4505a(d) of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 207(a) of FEPCA, concerning the application of performance-based cash awards to noncovered categories of employees; (b) section 5753(e) of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 208 of FEPCA, concerning the application of recruitment and relocation bonuses to noncovered categories of employees; and (c) section 5754(e) of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 208 of FEPCA, concerning the application of retention allowances to noncovered categories of employees.

Sec. 7. #sec-7

Staffing Differentials. The Office of Personnel Management is hereby designated and empowered to exercise the authority of the President under section 209 of FEPCA to establish staffing differentials.

Sec. 8. #sec-8

Executive Assignment System. (a) Civil Service Rule 9 (5 CFR Part 9), as established by Executive Order No. 11315, as amended, is revoked. (b) The Office of Personnel Management shall take such actions as the Office may determine to be necessary to provide for the orderly termination of the executive Assignment System.

Sec. 9. #sec-9

Effective Dates. (a) Except as otherwise provided by Public Law 101-509, the provisons of subchapter I of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, as amended by section 101 of FEPCA, and the provisions of sections 1 through 4 of this order shall take effect on February 3, 1991. (b) Except as otherwise provided by Public Law 101-509, the remaining provisons of FEPCA and of this order shall take effect on May 4, 1991, except that the Office of Personnel Management may establish an earlier effective date, but not earlier than February 3, 1991, for any such provisions with respect to which the Office determines an earlier effective date is appropriate. George Bush The White House, February 1, 1991.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (4)

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

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 12,748 (Feb. 1, 1991), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12748-providing-for-federal-pay-adminstration.