In accordance with the third clause of section 6 of the act entitled "An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States," approved January 16, 1883-- It is ordered, That the officers and employees in or under this office included within the provisions of the civil-service law and rules be, and they are hereby, arranged in the following classes: Class A .--All persons receiving an annual salary of less than $720, or a compensation at the rate of less than $720 per annum. Class B.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $720 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $720 or more, but less than $840 per annum. Class C.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $840 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $840 or more, but less than $900 per annum. Class D.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $900 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $900 or more, but less than $1,000 per annum. Class E.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $1,000 or more, or a compensation at the rate of $1,000 or more, but less than $1,200 per annum. Class 1.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $1,200 or more, or at the rate of $1,200 or more, but less than $1,400 per annum. Class 2.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $1,400 or more, or at the rate of $1,400 or more, but less than 1,600 per annum. Class 3.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $1,600 or more, or at the rate of $1,600 or more, but less than $1,800 per annum. Class 4.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $1,800 or more, or at the rate of $1,800 or more, but less than $2,000 per annum. Class 5.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $2,000 or more, or at the rate of $2,000 or more, but less than $2,500 per annum. Class 6.--All persons receiving an annual salary of $2,500 or more, or at the rate of $2,500 or more per annum. It is provided, That this classification shall not include persons appointed to an office by and with the advice and consent of the Senate nor persons employed as mere laborers or workmen; but all positions whose occupants are designated as laborers or workmen, and who were prior to May 6, 1896, and are now regularly assigned to work of the same grade as that performed by classified employees, shall be included within this classification. Hereafter no person who is appointed as a laborer or workman, without examination under the civil-service rules, shall be assigned to work of the same grade as that performed by classified employees. It is also ordered, That no person shall be admitted into any place not excepted from examination by the civil-service rules in any of the classes above designated until he shall have passed an appropriate examination prepared by the United States Civil Service Commission and his eligibility has been certified to this office by said Commission. By direction of the President: HENRY T. THURBER, Private Secretary.
Presidential Order
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
Executive Order—Civil Service: Classification of the Office of the President
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 3 min read (513 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
That the officers and employees in or under this office included within the provisions of the civil-service law and rules be, and they are hereby, arranged in the following classes: Class A .--All persons receiving an annual salary of less than $720, or a compensation at the rate of less than $720 per annum.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Grover Cleveland on January 12, 1897, this order concerns Civil Service: Classification of the Office of the President. That the officers and employees in or under this office included within the provisions of the civil-service law and rules be, and they are hereby, arranged in the following classes: Class A .--All persons receiving an annual salary of less than $720, or a compensation at the rate of less than $720 per annum.
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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That the officers and employees in or under this office included within the provisions of the civil-service law and rules be, and they are hereby, arranged in the following classes: Class A .--All persons receiving an annual salary of less than $720, or a compensation at the rate of less than $720 per annum.
▪
It is provided, That this classification shall not include persons appointed to an office by and with the advice and consent of the Senate nor persons employed as mere laborers or workmen; but all positions whose occupants are designated as laborers or workmen, and who were prior to May 6, 1896, and are now regularly assigned to work of the same grade as that performed by classified employees, shall be included within this classification.
▪
Hereafter no person who is appointed as a laborer or workman, without examination under the civil-service rules, shall be assigned to work of the same grade as that performed by classified employees.
▪
It is also ordered, That no person shall be admitted into any place not excepted from examination by the civil-service rules in any of the classes above designated until he shall have passed an appropriate examination prepared by the United States Civil Service Commission and his eligibility has been certified to this office by said Commission.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
Policy Areas & Topics
🏛️
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight)
§
"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."
— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
JM
James Madison
Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy
"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)
Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.
Madisonian Stance: Vigilant / Cautionary
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: Defends Vigor & Dispatch
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
52 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8
High Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
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
Moderate Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.
Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment
Moderate Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
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
Low Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
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
Moderate Friction
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.
Benchmark: Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
⚖️
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
513
2,913 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
13.9
College Level
Text size:
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📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order, Civil Service: Classification of the Office of the President (Jan. 12, 1897), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-civil-service-classification-the-office-the-president.
