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Executive Orders Historical Archive
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Executive Order 13591 Partially superseded 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.23) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 13591—Continuance of Certain Federal Advisory Committees

Barack Obama Barack Obama
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Wednesday, November 23, 2011
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2 min read (311 words)
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76 Fed. Reg. 74623

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (311 words) • ● Partially superseded
🎯 Primary Mandate

State, Local, Tribal, and Private Sector (SLTPS) Policy Advisory Committee; Executive Order 13549, as amended (National Archives and Records Administration).

View all 3 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners
Inspect unabridged text ↓

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 November 23, 2011, this order concerns Continuance of Certain Federal Advisory Committees. Each advisory committee listed below is continued until September 30, 2013. (a) Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues; Executive Order 13521 (Department of Health and Human Services). (b) National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations; Executive Order 13522 (Office of Personnel Management).

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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State, Local, Tribal, and Private Sector (SLTPS) Policy Advisory Committee; Executive Order 13549, as amended (National Archives and Records Administration).

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Of Executive Order 13530 of January 29, 2010 (President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability), is amended to read as follows: "Unless extended by the President, the Council shall terminate on January 29, 2013." Sec. 4.

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Notwithstanding the provisions of any other Executive Order, the functions of the President under the Federal Advisory Committee Act that are applicable to the committees listed in sections 1 and 2 of this order shall be performed by the head of the department or agency designated after each committee, in accordance with the guidelines and procedures established by the Administrator of General Services.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Education 🏷️ Technology & Cybersecurity
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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 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
32 / 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

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
311
2,146 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
16.7
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.23
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document
📑Sections Outline (4 sections)
Sec. 1Sec. 2Sec. 3Sec. 4

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and consistent with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. #sec-1

Each advisory committee listed below is continued until September 30, 2013. (a) Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues; Executive Order 13521 (Department of Health and Human Services). (b) National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations; Executive Order 13522 (Office of Personnel Management). (c) President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities; Executive Order 13532 (Department of Education). (d) President's Management Advisory Board; Executive Order 13538 (General Services Administration). (e) President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology; Executive Order 13539 (Office of Science and Technology Policy). (f) Interagency Task Force on Veterans Small Business Development; Executive Order 13540 (Small Business Administration). (g) State, Local, Tribal, and Private Sector (SLTPS) Policy Advisory Committee; Executive Order 13549, as amended (National Archives and Records Administration).

Sec. 2. #sec-2

The following advisory committee is continued until September 30, 2012: Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health; Executive Order 13544 (Department of Health and Human Services).

Sec. 3. #sec-3

Section 6 of Executive Order 13530 of January 29, 2010 (President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability), is amended to read as follows: "Unless extended by the President, the Council shall terminate on January 29, 2013."

Sec. 4. #sec-4

Notwithstanding the provisions of any other Executive Order, the functions of the President under the Federal Advisory Committee Act that are applicable to the committees listed in sections 1 and 2 of this order shall be performed by the head of the department or agency designated after each committee, in accordance with the guidelines and procedures established by the Administrator of General Services. BARACK OBAMA The White House, November 23, 2011.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (2)

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

Supersedes Executive Order 13652—Continuance of Certain Federal Advisory Committees
Barack Obama • 2013-09-30
References Executive Order 13631—Reestablishment of Advisory Group
Barack Obama • 2012-12-07
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 13,591, 76 Fed. Reg. 74,623 (Nov. 23, 2011).