Executive Order 13805: Infrastructure Council

It's been some time since I have posted here.  I've been busy at work and also trying to enjoy the summer.  Much craziness seems to be on-going, but still need to catch up on some of the Executive orders that have been issued even though they have been overtaken by events.  Long-term, we shall see if this blog continues or maybe I will change focus again to something else.  But, now to continue with Executive Orders...

What the Executive Order Says

Executive Order (EO) 13805 is entitled "Establishing a Presidential Advisor Council on Infrastructure" and was originally signed on 7/19/17.  It has 8 sections.

Section 1

This section defines policy on infrastructure projects.

Section 2

This section simply establishes the council.

Section 3

This section defines the membership of the council to be 15 and that there are 2 co-chairs.  The members are solely appointed by the President at his discretion.

Section 4

This section defines the mission of the council.  Basically it is to come up with a list of things to be done and then make recommendations on how to get things done faster and using less public money.

Section 5

This section indicates that the council is to be run and supported by the Department of Commerce and the Secretary of Commerce.  The Secretary will set the course via determining the questions that the council should investigate for the report that they will submit.

Section 6

This section states that the council will create a report and submit it to the President.

Section 7

This section defines when the council is terminated.  This is December 31, 2018 at the latest, but could be sooner depending on when the report is submitted.

Section 8

This section contains the usual general provisions to assure that the Executive Order is legal.

My commentary

So this Executive Order has been affected by subsequent events in Charlottesville.  After the statements made by the President  which appear to endorse racist views, potential participants on the Council have backed off and now it has been basically cancelled.  However, there is some interesting bits of cognitive dissonance in section 1.  Even though the policy intends to "create high-quality jobs", the council is asked to find ways to cut costs in projects which would reduce both the number of jobs created in the US as well as the number of high-quality costs.  The policy states that there is a desire to "improve quality of life" and to "protect the environment", but yet the council is asked to find ways to expedite the approval process so that answering these questions is a rubber stamp rather than a true determination.
The membership is so vague that the council can be packed with partisans or through nepotism so clearly it is a political instrument.  This infers that the value of the output is likely going to be pretty small and therefore it is not a big loss that it has ended before it began in the first place.