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Executive Order 13838 Revoked 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.60) 📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process

Executive Order 13838—Exemption From Executive Order 13658 for Recreational Services on Federal Lands

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Friday, May 25, 2018
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3 min read (618 words)
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83 Fed. Reg. 25341

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (618 words) • ● Revoked
🎯 Primary Mandate

Executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall promptly take appropriate action to implement this exemption and to ensure that all applicable regulations and agency guidance are consistent with this order.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
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 Donald J. Trump (1st Term) on May 25, 2018, this order concerns Exemption From Executive Order 13658 for Recreational Services on Federal Lands. Executive Order 13658 of February 12, 2014 (Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors), established a minimum wage to be paid by parties who contract with the Federal Government and applies to outfitters and guides operating on Federal lands. These individuals often conduct multiday recreational tours through Federal lands, and may be required to work substantial overtime hours.

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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Agency Implementation

Executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall promptly take appropriate action to implement this exemption and to ensure that all applicable regulations and agency guidance are consistent with this order.

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Section 7(f) of Executive Order 13658 is amended by inserting at its end the following language: "This order shall not apply to contracts or contract-like instruments entered into with the Federal Government in connection with seasonal recreational services or seasonal recreational equipment rental for the general public on Federal lands, but this exemption shall not apply to lodging and food services associated with seasonal recreational services.

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Agencies shall modify existing authorizations and solicitations for contracts or contract-like instruments affected by section 2 of this order by removing clauses requiring compliance with Executive Order 13658 (including the contract clause set forth at title 29, part 10, appendix A, Code of Federal Regulations) as soon as practicable and consistent with applicable law.

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Agencies shall remove such clauses without impairing the recreational activities or uses authorized by those permits and contracts.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
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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 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
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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
48 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

High Friction

Touches upon core congressional prerogatives: raises appropriations reallocation, tariff imposition, or statutory preemption questions.

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
618
4,110 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
18.8
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, including the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act, 40 U.S.C. 101 et seq ., and in order to ensure that the Federal Government can economically and efficiently provide the services that allow visitors of all means to enjoy the natural beauty of Federal parks and other Federal lands, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1 . #sec-1

Policy . Executive Order 13658 of February 12, 2014 (Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors), established a minimum wage to be paid by parties who contract with the Federal Government and applies to outfitters and guides operating on Federal lands. These individuals often conduct multiday recreational tours through Federal lands, and may be required to work substantial overtime hours. The implementation of Executive Order 13658 threatens to raise significantly the cost of guided hikes and tours on Federal lands, preventing many visitors from enjoying the great beauty of America's outdoors. Seasonal recreational workers have irregular work schedules, a high incidence of overtime pay, and an unusually high turnover rate, among other distinguishing characteristics. As a consequence, a minimum wage increase would generally entail large negative effects on hours worked by recreational service workers. Thus, applying Executive Order 13658 to these service contracts does not promote economy and efficiency in making these services available to those who seek to enjoy our Federal lands. That rationale, however, does not apply with the same force to lodging and food services associated with seasonal recreational services, which generally involve more regular work schedules and normal amounts of overtime work. Executive Order 13658 therefore should continue to apply to lodging and food services associated with seasonal recreational services.

Sec. 2 . #sec-2

Exemption from Executive Order 13658 . Section 7(f) of Executive Order 13658 is amended by inserting at its end the following language: "This order shall not apply to contracts or contract-like instruments entered into with the Federal Government in connection with seasonal recreational services or seasonal recreational equipment rental for the general public on Federal lands, but this exemption shall not apply to lodging and food services associated with seasonal recreational services. Seasonal recreational services include river running, hunting, fishing, horseback riding, camping, mountaineering activities, recreational ski services, and youth camps."

Sec. 3 . #sec-3

Agency Implementation . Executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall promptly take appropriate action to implement this exemption and to ensure that all applicable regulations and agency guidance are consistent with this order. Agencies shall modify existing authorizations and solicitations for contracts or contract-like instruments affected by section 2 of this order by removing clauses requiring compliance with Executive Order 13658 (including the contract clause set forth at title 29, part 10, appendix A, Code of Federal Regulations) as soon as practicable and consistent with applicable law. Agencies shall remove such clauses without impairing the recreational activities or uses authorized by those permits and contracts.

Sec. 4 . #sec-4

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, May 25, 2018.

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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. 13,838, 83 Fed. Reg. 25,341 (May 25, 2018).