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Executive Order 6017 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 6017—Amendments to the Consular Regulations

•
Tuesday, February 7, 1933
•
2 min read (434 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (434 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Of the Consular Regulations is hereby amended to read as follows: 64.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Sovereign State Governments & Localities 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 Herbert Hoover on February 7, 1933, this order concerns Amendments to the Consular Regulations. Section 64 of the Consular Regulations is hereby amended to read as follows: 64. Office rooms. The selection of office rooms and the amount to be paid for office rent are subject to the approval of the Secretary of State, to be obtained in advance of the signing of any lease or rental agreement.

Constitutional Assessment: Reviewed under the Tenth Amendment and the principle of dual federalism, this order touches upon domains traditionally reserved to the sovereign States. The Framers would caution against any attempt to commandeer state officers or displace local police powers through federal executive fiat.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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Of the Consular Regulations is hereby amended to read as follows: 64.

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Is amended to read as follows: 477.

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The Administrator of Veterans' Affairs is authorized, at the direction of the President or with the approval of the head of the department concerned, to utilize, in addition to the facilities of the Veterans' Administration, such other governmental facilities as may be made available to provide for the examination, medical care, treatment, hospitalization, dispensary, and convalescent care, necessary and reasonable after care, welfare of, nursing, and such other services as may be necessary for carrying out these purposes, for the performance of which the said Administrator is made responsible by statute, subject to the general directions of the President. —U.S.C. title 38, sec. 434.

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Consular officers of the United States will therefore promptly and carefully perform any of the above duties delegated to them in their respective districts by instructions issued by or transmitted through the Department of State; they are also charged with the general supervision of Veterans' Administration activities within their districts and in the absence of special instructions shall promptly submit reports of information received regarding such activities which may assist the Veterans' Administration to discharge efficiently its responsibility to its beneficiaries who reside in foreign countries.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
🏛️

The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority)
§

"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."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM

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.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
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: Supportive of Execution
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." — 10th Amendment to the US Constitution (1791)

Mason would scrutinize whether this federal directive intrudes into police powers, land stewardship, or municipal domains historically reserved to local citizens. The Anti-Federalist demand is that federal administration must never supplant state self-governance.

Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
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Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions

An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.

🛡️ High Constitutional Concordance
27 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Low Friction

Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Low Friction

Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

Moderate Friction

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

Due Process & Individual Rights

Moderate Friction

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

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates in close harmony with statutory authority and standard Article II supervisory execution.

Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
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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
434
2,773 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
17.4
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

Section 64 of the Consular Regulations is hereby amended to read as follows: 64. Office rooms. The selection of office rooms and the amount to be paid for office rent are subject to the approval of the Secretary of State, to be obtained in advance of the signing of any lease or rental agreement. When suitable offices have been obtained, they should not be changed except for good cause after approval by the department. It will be required that the same offices be retained until the lease expires, unless there exists some controlling reason justifying the change; such reason should be reported to the department and its decision awaited before any change in the offices is made. (Secs. 61, 67.) Section 66 is amended by the addition of the following item: (6) The terms of the proposed rental agreement or lease. Section 477 is amended to read as follows: 477. Consular officers to act for Veterans' Administration. The Administrator of Veterans' Affairs is authorized, at the direction of the President or with the approval of the head of the department concerned, to utilize, in addition to the facilities of the Veterans' Administration, such other governmental facilities as may be made available to provide for the examination, medical care, treatment, hospitalization, dispensary, and convalescent care, necessary and reasonable after care, welfare of, nursing, and such other services as may be necessary for carrying out these purposes, for the performance of which the said Administrator is made responsible by statute, subject to the general directions of the President. —U.S.C. title 38, sec. 434. Consular officers of the United States will therefore promptly and carefully perform any of the above duties delegated to them in their respective districts by instructions issued by or transmitted through the Department of State; they are also charged with the general supervision of Veterans' Administration activities within their districts and in the absence of special instructions shall promptly submit reports of information received regarding such activities which may assist the Veterans' Administration to discharge efficiently its responsibility to its beneficiaries who reside in foreign countries. Section 488½ is canceled. The following amendments are made in section 606: In item (2), omit the word "numbered"; in item (3), substitute the word "duplicate" for the word "original"; amend item (7) to read, "A card file of registrations of American citizens"; amend item (9) to read, "A confidential file, containing true readings of telegrams sent and received in confidential ciphers, and correspondence of a confidential nature." In sections 607 and 608, cancel the reference "(Form No. 223)." HERBERT HOOVER The White House, February 7, 1933.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1940-03-19
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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 6017 (Feb. 7, 1933), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6017-amendments-the-consular-regulations.