By virtue of the authority vested in me by the act of Congress entitled "AN ACT For the relief of unemployment through the performance of useful public work, and for other purposes", approved March 31, 1933 (Public, No. 5—73d Cong.), find supplementing Executive (Order No. 6101, dated April 5, 1933, it is hereby ordered that: (1) No supplies, materials, equipment, or other property will be purchased or manufactured for the Emergency Conservation Work and paid for from the Emergency Conservation Fund where similar supplies, materials, equipment, or other property or supplies of a character which will answer the purpose, can be furnished from existing surplus or excess stocks in the executive departments or independent establishments. (2) In pursuance of this policy the heads of the departments and independent establishments will, upon call from the Chief Coordinator, furnish him lists of their stocks which are surplus or excess, or stocks though not declared surplus or excess which can be transferred to the conservation work without detriment. The Chief Coordinator will consolidate said lists and furnish copies of the consolidated lists to all procuring officers and others concerned; and upon requisition by the Director or the heads of the departments concerned for such supplies, materials, equipment, or other property, they shall be furnished for use in the Emergency Conservation Work without cost, except for the cost of packing, handling, and transportation. (3) In all cases where the Chief Coordinator's lists of stocks do not show supplies, materials, equipment, or other property of a character required for use in the Emergency Conservation Work as surplus or excess in the executive departments and independent establishments, the head of any such department or establishment on request of the Director of Emergency Conservation Work or the Secretaries of War, Interior, Agriculture, and Labor shall, if practicable, furnish articles of supply and equipment from current issue stocks; and where such supplies or equipment have been or shall be so furnished for use in the Emergency Conservation Work from stocks which must be replaced for current issue, reimbursement at not to exceed the prices for such articles current at the time of issue (including packing, crating, and handling charges and transportation costs) will be made from the Emergency Conservation Fund to the current appropriation from which such supplies or equipment are procured. The reimbursement vouchers therefor will contain the following certificate: "This is to certify that the supplies, materials, and equipment enumerated on this voucher or supporting papers were procured to replace current stock issued to the Emergency Conservation Work" The cost of the procurement of all services, supplies, materials, equipment, or other property, whether by purchase or manufacture for direct consumption or use in the Emergency Conservation Work, and which cannot be procured as provided above, will be charged against the Emergency Conservation Fund, in accordance with the regulations promulgated by the Director of Emergency Conservation Work. All reimbursements other than those indicated above will be made in accordance with instructions from the President. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, May 8, 1933.
Executive Order 6127—Reimbursement for Supplies Furnished the Emergency Conservation Work
Executive Brief • At a Glance
In pursuance of this policy the heads of the departments and independent establishments will, upon call from the Chief Coordinator, furnish him lists of their stocks which are surplus or excess, or stocks though not declared surplus or excess which can be transferred to the conservation work without detriment.
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on May 8, 1933, this order concerns Reimbursement for Supplies Furnished the Emergency Conservation Work. (1) No supplies, materials, equipment, or other property will be purchased or manufactured for the Emergency Conservation Work and paid for from the Emergency Conservation Fund where similar supplies, materials, equipment, or other property or supplies of a character which will answer the purpose, can be furnished from existing surplus or excess stocks in the executive departments or independent establishments.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
In pursuance of this policy the heads of the departments and independent establishments will, upon call from the Chief Coordinator, furnish him lists of their stocks which are surplus or excess, or stocks though not declared surplus or excess which can be transferred to the conservation work without detriment.
The Chief Coordinator will consolidate said lists and furnish copies of the consolidated lists to all procuring officers and others concerned; and upon requisition by the Director or the heads of the departments concerned for such supplies, materials, equipment, or other property, they shall be furnished for use in the Emergency Conservation Work without cost, except for the cost of packing, handling, and transportation.
In all cases where the Chief Coordinator's lists of stocks do not show supplies, materials, equipment, or other property of a character required for use in the Emergency Conservation Work as surplus or excess in the executive departments and independent establishments, the head of any such department or establishment on request of the Director of Emergency Conservation Work or the Secretaries of War, Interior, Agriculture, and Labor shall, if practicable, furnish articles of supply and equipment from current issue stocks; and where such supplies or equipment have been or shall be so furnished for use in the Emergency Conservation Work from stocks which must be replaced for current issue, reimbursement at not to exceed the prices for such…
The reimbursement vouchers therefor will contain the following certificate: "This is to certify that the supplies, materials, and equipment enumerated on this voucher or supporting papers were procured to replace current stock issued to the Emergency Conservation Work" The cost of the procurement of all services, supplies, materials, equipment, or other property, whether by purchase or manufacture for direct consumption or use in the Emergency Conservation Work, and which cannot be procured as provided above, will be charged against the Emergency Conservation Fund, in accordance with the regulations promulgated by the Director of Emergency Conservation Work.
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 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."
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.
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
Touches upon core congressional prerogatives: raises appropriations reallocation, tariff imposition, or statutory preemption questions.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.
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 order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 6127 (May 8, 1933), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6127-reimbursement-for-supplies-furnished-the-emergency-conservation-work.