Paragraph 2, Subdivision III, Schedule B, of positions excepted from competition under the civil-service rules, is hereby amended to read as follows: 2. Commercial attaches and assistant commercial attaches, trade commissioners and assistant trade commissioners, employed in the Foreign Commerce Service of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. After at least three years of service abroad, these employees may be transferred or reinstated, upon approval of the Civil Service Commission, to any position under the bureau for which their qualifications fit them, but without any change thereby in their excepted status as Schedule B employees. All positions in the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce in the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and Porto Rico, heretofore excepted from competitive examination, other than the director and assistant directors of the bureau, are hereby included, with their incumbents, in the classified competitive service. The effect of this amendment is to diminish the number of excepted positions in the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce and permit transfers, under the restrictions mentioned, to the bureau proper. The commission concurs with the department in recommending this order. HERBERT HOOVER The White House, March 10, 1932.
Executive Order 5817 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
Executive Order 5817—Amendment of Schedule B of the Civil-Service Rules, Affecting the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (192 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
Paragraph 2, Subdivision III, Schedule B, of positions excepted from competition under the civil-service rules, is hereby amended to read as follows: 2.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Foreign Nations & International Entities
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Herbert Hoover on March 10, 1932, this order concerns Amendment of Schedule B of the Civil-Service Rules, Affecting the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. Paragraph 2, Subdivision III, Schedule B, of positions excepted from competition under the civil-service rules, is hereby amended to read as follows: 2. Commercial attaches and assistant commercial attaches, trade commissioners and assistant trade commissioners, employed in the Foreign Commerce Service of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce.
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
▪
Paragraph 2, Subdivision III, Schedule B, of positions excepted from competition under the civil-service rules, is hereby amended to read as follows: 2.
▪
After at least three years of service abroad, these employees may be transferred or reinstated, upon approval of the Civil Service Commission, to any position under the bureau for which their qualifications fit them, but without any change thereby in their excepted status as Schedule B employees.
▪
All positions in the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce in the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and Porto Rico, heretofore excepted from competitive examination, other than the director and assistant directors of the bureau, are hereby included, with their incumbents, in the classified competitive service.
▪
The effect of this amendment is to diminish the number of excepted positions in the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce and permit transfers, under the restrictions mentioned, to the bureau proper.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities
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 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
📐
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
47 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8
Moderate Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
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
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
Moderate Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
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
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
192
1,293 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
16.9
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
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EO 5818 Mar 10, 1932
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Subject to valid existing claims, the following lands are hereby temporarily withdrawn from settlement, location, sale, entry, lease, or other disposal and reserved for the purposes of investigation, examination, and classification.
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📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order No. 4900, dated June 2, 1928, which withdrew the public lands in T. 8 S., R. 95 W., sixth principal meridian, Colorado, pending a resurvey, be, and the same is hereby, revoked.
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Executive Order No. 5116, dated May 15, 1929, which withdrew the public lands in T. 1 N., R. 26 W., fifth principal meridian, Arkansas, pending resurvey, be, and the same is hereby, revoked. All the lands in this township are included in the Ouachita National Forest.
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EO 5821 Mar 17, 1932
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
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📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The maximum age limit for appointment as acting postmaster and that for entrance to the open competitive examination for postmaster at the post office at Woodward, Okla., is hereby waived to permit Mr. Joseph H. Hopkins to be appointed acting postmaster at that office and to…
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📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 5817 (Mar. 10, 1932), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-5817-amendment-schedule-b-the-civil-service-rules-affecting-the-bureau.
