The following appointments made by the President to classified positions in the Department of Labor without regard to the requirements of the civil-service rules, are upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Labor, hereby revoked. (1) The appointment on February 16, 1933, of the following-named persons as Special Investigators in the Immigration Service, Department of Labor: Wallace D. Bassford J. Theodore George Ervin F. Brown James Hoover W. Woodruff Chisum Thomas A. Lewis Carlo deVio James H. O'Connor Abraham Dickstein Mabel Rewman Edward S. Doak Harry L. Tetlow William L. Ford John W. Williams (2) The appointment on March 2, 1933, of the following-named persons as Special Investigators in the Immigration Service, Department of Labor: Joseph Gambaro Solomon Israel (3) The appointment on March 2, 1933, of the following-named persons to classified positions in the Department of Labor: Miss Ellen T. Purcell Miss J. Elizabeth Williams (4) The appointment on March 3, 1933, of Thomas H. Allen as Special Investigator in the Immigration Service, Department of Labor. (5) The appointment on August 1, 1932, of Lamar Costello as Supervisor of Detentions in the Immigration Service, Department of Labor. (6) The appointment on May 13, 1931, of Mrs. Dorothy I. Sinnott as Junior Clerk in the Naturalization Service, Department of Labor. (7) The appointment on March 2, 1929, of Jeanette J. Donahue as Clerk in the Immigration Service, Department of Labor. (8) The appointment on February 26, 1929, of Mrs. Julia Behake to a classified position in the Department of Labor. (9) The appointment on October 23, 1926, of Mrs. Susan T. Waite as Clerk in the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor. (10) The appointment on October 21, 1929, of Estelle Roberts as Matron in the Immigration Service, Department of Labor. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, June 16, 1933.
Executive Order 6179 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order 6179-A—Revocation of Appointment to Classified Positions in the Department of Labor
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (301 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
The following appointments made by the President to classified positions in the Department of Labor without regard to the requirements of the civil-service rules, are upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Labor, hereby revoked.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
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 Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 16, 1933, this order concerns Revocation of Appointment to Classified Positions in the Department of Labor. The following appointments made by the President to classified positions in the Department of Labor without regard to the requirements of the civil-service rules, are upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Labor, hereby revoked.
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
▪
The following appointments made by the President to classified positions in the Department of Labor without regard to the requirements of the civil-service rules, are upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Labor, hereby revoked.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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
44 / 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
Low Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment
Low Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Confined strictly to internal federal jurisdiction, federal property, or direct military command.
Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments
High Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
Scrutinized under the Bill of Rights for potential impact on private contracts, property rights, or procedural due process.
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
301
1,884 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
9.8
High School
Text size:
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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 • 1938-02-14
Related Executive Orders
Other executive actions signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt around this period.
EO 6179 Jun 16, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6179—Withdrawal of Public Lands for Resurvey
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The public lands in T. 22 S., R. 3 E. of the Salt Lake meridian, Utah, be, and the same are hereby, withdrawn from settlement, location, sale, entry, and all forms of appropriation, pending a resurvey of said township under the act of March 3, 1909 (35 Stat. 845).
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
EO 6179 Jun 16, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6179-C—Designation of South Trimble, Jr., as Acting Secretary of Commerce
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
I hereby authorize and direct South Trimble, Jr., Solicitor for the Department of Commerce, to perform the duties of the Secretary of Commerce during the absence of the Secretary of Commerce and the Assistant Secretaries of Commerce appointed under the Act of February 14, 1903…
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
EO 6179 Jun 16, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6179-B—Abolition of the National Committee on Wood Utilization
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
There is hereby abolished The National Committee on Wood Utilization. All the property of every kind, files, and records, etc., belonging thereto are hereby transferred to the custody of the Secretary of Commerce for such disposition as he may determine; provided, that if the…
Franklin D. Roosevelt College Level • 1m
EO 6178 Jun 16, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6178—Carson National Forest
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The following-described lands in New Mexico, embraced in color of title application Santa Fe 063408, be, and they are hereby, excluded from the Carson National Forest: NEW MEXICO PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN T. 23 N., R. 12 E., sec. 35, lots 13 and 14; sec. 36, lot 5.
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
EO 6177 Jun 16, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6177—Revocation of Withdrawal of Public Lands Pending Resurvey
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order No. 5342, dated May 6, 1930, which withdrew the public lands in T. 1 N., R. 28 W. of the fifth principal meridian, Arkansas, pending resurvey, be, and the same is hereby, revoked.
Franklin D. Roosevelt College Level • 1m
EO 6176 Jun 16, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6176—Allowance to Rural Carriers for Equipment Maintenance
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
In accordance with the provisions of Section 9 of the Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 1934, the amount to be paid to carriers in the Rural Mail Delivery Service for equipment maintenance is fixed, for the period from July 1 to September 30, 1933, at 1.176 cents per mile…
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 6179 (June 16, 1933), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6179-revocation-appointment-classified-positions-the-department-labor.
