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Executive Order 13048 Amended 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.52) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 13048—Improving Administrative Management in the Executive Branch

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Tuesday, June 10, 1997
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4 min read (747 words)
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62 Fed. Reg. 32467

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 4 min read (747 words) • ● Amended
🎯 Primary Mandate

An Interagency Council on Administrative Management ("Council") is established as an interagency coordination mechanism.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

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

Signed by President William J. Clinton on June 10, 1997, this order concerns Improving Administrative Management in the Executive Branch. Improvement of Government operations is a continuing process that benefits from interagency activities. One group dedicated to such activities is the President's Council on Management Improvement (PCMI), established by Executive Order 12479 in 1984, reestablished by Executive Order 12816 in 1992.

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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Interagency Council on Administrative Management

An Interagency Council on Administrative Management ("Council") is established as an interagency coordination mechanism.

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Responsibilities of the Chair

The Chair or, if the Chair chooses, the Vice Chair shall: (1) convene meetings of the Council; (2) preside at formal council meetings; (3) establish committees or working groups of the Council, as necessary for efficient conduct of Council functions; and (4) appoint, to the extent permitted by law and consistent with personnel practices, other full-time officers or employees of the Federal Government to the Council as at-large members for specific terms, not exceeding 2 years, to provide expertise to the Council.

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Responsibilities of Agency Heads

To the extent permitted by law, heads of departments or agencies represented on the Council shall provide their representatives with administrative support needed to support Council activities.

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Revocation

Executive Order 12816 (creating the President's Council on Management Improvement), Executive Order 12552 (establishing the executive branch productivity improvement program) and Executive Order 12637 (revising the executive branch productivity improvement program) are revoked.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
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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

"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
39 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Low Friction

Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.

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

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
747
5,297 characters
Estimated Read Time
4 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
13.7
College Level
Language Tone Score
+0.52
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

Improvement of Government operations is a continuing process that benefits from interagency activities. One group dedicated to such activities is the President's Council on Management Improvement (PCMI), established by Executive Order 12479 in 1984, reestablished by Executive Order 12816 in 1992. In the intervening years, some activities of the PCMI have been assumed by the President's Management Council, the Chief Financial Officers Council, and the Chief Information Officers Council. These organizations are also focussed on improving agencies' use of quality management principles. Other functions have been assigned to individual agencies. Nonetheless, remaining administrative management matters deserve attention across agency lines. By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America and in order to improve agency administrative and management practices throughout the executive branch, I hereby direct the following:

Section 1. #sec-1

Interagency Council on Administrative Management. (a) Purpose and Membership. An Interagency Council on Administrative Management ("Council") is established as an interagency coordination mechanism. The Council shall be composed of the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget, who shall serve as Chair, and one senior administrative management official from each of the following agencies: 1. Department of State; 2. Department of the Treasury; 3. Department of Defense; 4. Department of Justice; 5. Department of the Interior; 6. Department of Agriculture; 7. Department of Commerce; 8. Department of Labor; 9. Department of Health and Human Services; 10. Department of Housing and Urban Development; 11. Department of Transportation; 12. Department of Energy; 13. Department of Education; 14. Department of Veterans Affairs; 15. Environmental Protection Agency; 16. Federal Emergency Management Agency; 17. Central Intelligence Agency; 18. Small Business Administration; 19. Department of the Army; 20. Department of the Navy; 21. Department of the Air Force; 22. National Aeronautics and Space Administration; 23. Agency for International Development; 24. General Services Administration; 25. National Science Foundation; and 26. Office of Personnel Management. Department and agency heads shall advise the Chair of their selections for membership on the Council. Council membership shall also include representatives of the Chief Financial Officers Council, the Chief Information Officers Council, the Federal Procurement Council, the Interagency Advisory Group of Federal Personnel Directors, and the Small Agency Council, as well as at-large members appointed by the Chair, as he deems appropriate. The Chair shall invite representatives of the Social Security Administration to participate in the Council's work, as appropriate. The Council shall select a Vice Chair from among the Council's membership. (b) The Council shall plan, promote, and recommend improvements in Government administration and operations and provide advice to the Chair on matters pertaining to the administrative management of the Federal Government. The Council shall: (1) explore opportunities for more effective use of Government resources; (2) support activities and initiatives of the President's Management Council, the Chief Financial Officers Council, the Chief Information Officers Council, the Federal Procurement Council, and the Interagency Advisory Group of Federal Personnel Directors designed to develop, review, revise, and implement Governmentwide administrative management policies; and (3) identify successful administrative management practices, including quality management practices, and assist in their Governmentwide dissemination and implementation.

Sec. 2. #sec-2

Responsibilities of the Chair. The Chair or, if the Chair chooses, the Vice Chair shall: (1) convene meetings of the Council; (2) preside at formal council meetings; (3) establish committees or working groups of the Council, as necessary for efficient conduct of Council functions; and (4) appoint, to the extent permitted by law and consistent with personnel practices, other full-time officers or employees of the Federal Government to the Council as at-large members for specific terms, not exceeding 2 years, to provide expertise to the Council.

Sec. 3. #sec-3

Responsibilities of Agency Heads. To the extent permitted by law, heads of departments or agencies represented on the Council shall provide their representatives with administrative support needed to support Council activities.

Sec. 4. #sec-4

Judicial Review. This order is for the internal management of the executive branch and does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable by a party against the United States, its agencies or instrumentalities, its officers or employees, or any other person.

Sec. 5. #sec-5

Revocation. Executive Order 12816 (creating the President's Council on Management Improvement), Executive Order 12552 (establishing the executive branch productivity improvement program) and Executive Order 12637 (revising the executive branch productivity improvement program) are revoked. William J. Clinton The White House, June 10, 1997. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 12:12 p.m., June 12, 1997]

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

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

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 13,048, 62 Fed. Reg. 32,467 (June 10, 1997).