Executive Order 2605 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 2605—Suspending Eight-Hour Law in Contracts Under the War Department

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Saturday, April 28, 1917

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1 min read (228 words)

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

This executive order, signed by President Woodrow Wilson on 1917-04-28, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Suspending Eight-Hour Law in Contracts Under the War Department." It is a direct, concise executive instruction delivering focused administrative or military commands to department leadership.

Constitutional Assessment: Scrutinized through Article II, Section 2, this action exercises the President's constitutional role as Commander in Chief. Early Framers recognized broad executive discretion in commanding military forces during conflict, provided it remains bounded by congressional declarations and respects civilian domestic courts.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

▪ This order shall take effect from and after this date and shall be operative during the pending emergency or until further orders.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Total Words

228

1,334 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 2605, Woodrow Wilson (Apr 28, 1917). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-2605-suspending-eight-hour-law-contracts-under-the-war-department.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

Under authority contained in the Naval Appropriation Act approved March 4, 1917 (Public No. 391, 64th Congress) it is hereby ordered that the provisions of the Eight-Hour Act of June 19 1912, are suspended with respect to persons engaged upon work covered by contracts with the United States, made under the War Department, for the construction of any military building or for any public work which in the judgment of the Secretary of War is important for purposes of national defense in addition to the classes of contracts enumerated in Executive Order of March 24, 1917. It is further declared that the current status of war constitutes an "extraordinary emergency" within the meaning of that term as used in the Eight-Hour Act of March 3, 1913 (37 Stat., 726), and that laborers and mechanics employed on work of the character set forth above, whether employed by government contractors or by agents of the government, may when regarded by the Secretary of War as necessary for purposes of national defense, be required to work in excess of eight hours per day, and wages to be computed in accordance with the proviso in the said Act of March 4, 1917. This order shall take effect from and after this date and shall be operative during the pending emergency or until further orders. WOODROW WILSON THE WHITE HOUSE, April 28, 1917.