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Executive Order 13560 Superseded 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.60) 📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process

Executive Order 13560—White House Council for Community Solutions

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Tuesday, December 14, 2010
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4 min read (715 words)
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75 Fed. Reg. 78875

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 4 min read (715 words) • ● Superseded
🎯 Primary Mandate

The Council shall support the nationwide "Call To Service" campaign authorized in the Serve America Act (Public Law 111-13) by: (a) identifying the key attributes of effective community-developed solutions to our national problems; (b) identifying specific policy areas in which the Federal Government is investing significant resources that lend themselves to cross-sector collaboration and providing recommendations for such collaborations; (c) highlighting examples of best practices, tools, and models that are making a demonstrable positive impact in communities and fostering increased cross-sector collaboration and civic participation; (d) making recommendations to the President on how to engage individuals, State and local governments…

⚖️ 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 Barack Obama on December 14, 2010, this order concerns White House Council for Community Solutions. There is established the White House Council for Community Solutions (Council) within the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) to support the social innovation and civic participation agenda of the Domestic Policy Council. Sec. 2. Mission and Functions of the Council.

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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Mission and Functions of the Council

The Council shall support the nationwide "Call To Service" campaign authorized in the Serve America Act (Public Law 111-13) by: (a) identifying the key attributes of effective community-developed solutions to our national problems; (b) identifying specific policy areas in which the Federal Government is investing significant resources that lend themselves to cross-sector collaboration and providing recommendations for such collaborations; (c) highlighting examples of best practices, tools, and models that are making a demonstrable positive impact in communities and fostering increased cross-sector collaboration and civic participation; (d) making recommendations to the President on how to engage individuals, State and local governments…

▪
Membership

The Council shall be composed of not more than 30 members from outside the Federal Government appointed by the President.

▪
Administration

The CNCS shall provide funding and administrative support for the Council to the extent permitted by law and within existing appropriations.

▪
Termination

The Council shall terminate 2 years from the date of this order, unless renewed by the President.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

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

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 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
📐

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
40 / 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

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%).
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
715
4,687 characters
Estimated Read Time
4 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
19
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.60
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 the laws of the United States of America, and in order to encourage the growth and maximize the impact of innovative community solutions and civic participation by all Americans, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. #sec-1

Establishment. There is established the White House Council for Community Solutions (Council) within the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) to support the social innovation and civic participation agenda of the Domestic Policy Council.

Sec. 2. #sec-2

Mission and Functions of the Council. The Council shall support the nationwide "Call To Service" campaign authorized in the Serve America Act (Public Law 111-13) by: (a) identifying the key attributes of effective community-developed solutions to our national problems; (b) identifying specific policy areas in which the Federal Government is investing significant resources that lend themselves to cross-sector collaboration and providing recommendations for such collaborations; (c) highlighting examples of best practices, tools, and models that are making a demonstrable positive impact in communities and fostering increased cross-sector collaboration and civic participation; (d) making recommendations to the President on how to engage individuals, State and local governments, institutions of higher education, non-profit and philanthropic organizations, community groups, and businesses to support innovative community-developed solutions that have a significant impact in solving our Nation's most serious problems; and (e) honoring and highlighting the work of leaders in service and social innovation who are making a significant impact in their communities.

Sec. 3. #sec-3

Membership. (a) The Council shall be composed of not more than 30 members from outside the Federal Government appointed by the President. The Chair of the Board of Directors of the CNCS shall also serve on the Council. Appointed members of the Council may include individuals with relevant experience or subject matter expertise that the President deems appropriate, as well as individuals who may serve as representatives of a variety of sectors, including, among others, State and local governments, institutions of higher education, non-profit and philanthropic organizations, community groups, and businesses. (b) The President shall designate one of the members of the Council to serve as Chair. The Chair shall convene and preside at meetings of the Council. (c) The term of office of members appointed by the President shall be 2 years, and members shall be eligible for reappointment. Members may continue to serve after the expiration of their terms until the President appoints a successor. A member appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve only for the unexpired term of such vacancy.

Sec. 4. #sec-4

Administration. (a) The CNCS shall provide funding and administrative support for the Council to the extent permitted by law and within existing appropriations. (b) The heads of executive departments and agencies shall assist and provide information to the Council, consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations, as may be necessary to carry out the functions of the Council. (c) The members of the Council shall serve without compensation for their work on the Council. Members of the Council may, however, receive travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law for persons serving intermittently in Government service (5 U.S.C. 5701-5707). (d) Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.) (the "Act"), may apply to the administration of the Council, any functions of the President under the Act, except that of reporting to the Congress, shall be performed by the Chief Executive Officer of the CNCS in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Administrator of General Services.

Sec. 5. #sec-5

Termination. The Council shall terminate 2 years from the date of this order, unless renewed by the President.

Sec. 6. #sec-6

General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. BARACK OBAMA The White House, December 14, 2010.

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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. 13,560, 75 Fed. Reg. 78,875 (Dec. 14, 2010).