By Executive order of May 29, 1902, authority was given for the use of lot 1 of block 40, of Alva, Okla., for post-office purposes. Since said date the lot has at times been used for other purposes, and under date of December 5, 1932, the Treasury Department requested that said lot be transferred from the custody and control of the Department of the Interior to the Treasury Department to be used as the site of a Federal building. In order that there may be no question as to the use of the lot, it is hereby ordered that the custody and control of said lot 1 of block 40 be, and the same is hereby, transferred to the Treasury Department to be used as the site of a Federal building. This order shall continue in full force and effect unless and until revoked by the President or by act of Congress. HERBERT HOOVER The White House, December 16, 1932.
Executive Order 5975—Setting Aside Certain Lands as a Site for a Federal Building, Oklahoma
Executive Brief • At a Glance
The custody and control of said lot 1 of block 40 be, and the same is hereby, transferred to the Treasury Department to be used as the site of a Federal building.
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 December 16, 1932, this order concerns Setting Aside Certain Lands as a Site for a Federal Building, Oklahoma. The custody and control of said lot 1 of block 40 be, and the same is hereby, transferred to the Treasury Department to be used as the site of a Federal building.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
The custody and control of said lot 1 of block 40 be, and the same is hereby, transferred to the Treasury Department to be used as the site of a Federal building.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
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.
"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."
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.
Alexander Hamilton
The Energetic Executive & Unified Command
"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)
Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.
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.
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Confined strictly to internal federal jurisdiction, federal property, or direct military command.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.
This order operates in close harmony with statutory authority and standard Article II supervisory execution.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 5975 (Dec. 16, 1932), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-5975-setting-aside-certain-lands-site-for-federal-building-oklahoma.