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Executive Order 13816 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.52) 📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service

Executive Order 13816—Revising the Seal for the National Credit Union Administration

Donald J. Trump (1st Term) Donald J. Trump (1st Term)
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Friday, December 8, 2017
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2 min read (478 words)
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82 Fed. Reg. 58701

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (478 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Executive Order 11580 of January 20, 1971 (Establishing a Seal for the National Credit Union Administration), as amended, is hereby revoked.

View all 3 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Foreign Nations & International Entities
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 Donald J. Trump (1st Term) on December 8, 2017, this order concerns Revising the Seal for the National Credit Union Administration. The National Credit Union Administration Board has caused to be made, and has recommended approval of, a new seal of office for the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the design of which accompanies and is hereby made a part of this order, and which is described as follows: (i) The eagle overlaid by the shield conveys the NCUA's role as an agency of the Federal Government.

Constitutional Assessment: This action represents an orderly exercise of Article II administrative discretion, managing the internal machinery and personnel of the executive branch without abridging the ancient liberties of the people.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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Revocation

Executive Order 11580 of January 20, 1971 (Establishing a Seal for the National Credit Union Administration), as amended, is hereby revoked.

▪

The National Credit Union Administration Board has caused to be made, and has recommended approval of, a new seal of office for the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the design of which accompanies and is hereby made a part of this order, and which is described as follows: (i) The eagle overlaid by the shield conveys the NCUA's role as an agency of the Federal Government.

▪

I hereby approve this seal as the official seal of the NCUA.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Labor & Employment 🏷️ Economy & Finance
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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 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
43 / 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

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

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%).
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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
478
2,829 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
16.6
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.52
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
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Official Archival Text

View Source Document
📑Sections Outline (3 sections)
Sec. 1: RevisionSec. 2: RevocationSec. 3: General Provisions

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1 . #sec-1

Revision . (a) The National Credit Union Administration Board has caused to be made, and has recommended approval of, a new seal of office for the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the design of which accompanies and is hereby made a part of this order, and which is described as follows: (i) The eagle overlaid by the shield conveys the NCUA's role as an agency of the Federal Government. The text, "NCUA," in white on a blue background on the crest of the shield is the core of the sign that federally insured credit unions are required to display. (ii) The three stars above the eagle represent the NCUA's three-member Board, appointed by the President of the United States by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. (iii) The oak branch the eagle is holding in its left talon symbolizes the NCUA's strength, honor, and longevity in carrying out its mission of promoting confidence in the national system of cooperative credit. (iv) The olive branch the eagle is holding in its right talon symbolizes the peace and prosperity facilitated by the economic growth and access to affordable financial services that the Nation's credit unions have long provided to millions of Americans. (v) The upper portion of the circle that forms the border of the seal sets forth the agency's title, "National Credit Union Administration." The date "1934" in the lower portion of the circle reflects the creation of the Federal credit union system by the Congress in 1934 and the long unbroken line of Federal credit union regulation that evolved into the NCUA. (b) This seal is of suitable design and appropriate for adoption as the official seal of the NCUA. (c) I hereby approve this seal as the official seal of the NCUA.

Sec. 2 . #sec-2

Revocation . Executive Order 11580 of January 20, 1971 (Establishing a Seal for the National Credit Union Administration), as amended, is hereby revoked.

Sec. 3 . #sec-3

General Provisions . (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. (c) 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. DONALD J. TRUMP The White House, December 8, 2017.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 13,816, 82 Fed. Reg. 58,701 (Dec. 8, 2017).