By Virtue of the authority vested in me by the act of Congress entitled "An Act to encourage national industrial recovery, to foster fair competition, and to provide for the construction of certain useful public works, and for other purposes," approved June 16, 1933 (Public No. 67, 73d Congress), and in order to effect the purposes of that act, it is hereby ordered that— (1) Contracts for Supplies. Every contract entered into within the limits of the United States (by which is meant the 48 States of the Union, the District of Columbia, the Territories of Hawaii and Alaska, the Panama Canal Zone, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands) by the United States or any of its agencies or instrumentalities for supplies mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States as contemplated by Section 2, Title III, of the act approved March 3, 1933, entitled "An Act Making appropriations for the Treasury and Post Office Departments for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1934, and for other purposes" (Public No. 428, 72d Congress), except as set forth in the proviso under paragraph (a) below, shall provide and require that: (a) The contractor shall comply with all provisions of the applicable approved code of fair competition for the trade or industry or subdivision thereof concerned, or, if there be no approved code of fair competition for the trade or industry or subdivision thereof concerned, then with the provisions of the President's Reemployment Agreement promulgated under authority of Section 4 (a) of the foregoing act, or any amendment thereof, without regard to whether the contractor is himself a party to such code or agreement: Provided , That where supplies are purchased that are not mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States the special or general code of fair practice shall apply to that portion of the contract executed within the United States. (b) If the contractor fails to comply with the foregoing provision, the Government may by written notice to the contractor terminate the contractor's right to proceed with the contract, and purchase in the open market the undelivered portion of the supplies covered by the contract, and the contractor and his sureties shall be liable to the Government for any excess cost occasioned the Government thereby. (2) Disbursing Officers. No disbursing officer shall be held liable for any payment made under the provisions of the foregoing act, or any Executive order issued under authority of that act, or for the unobligated balance of any overpayment involved. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, August 10, 1933.
Executive Order 6246 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Executive Order 6246—Administration of the National Industrial Recovery Act
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (425 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
Every contract entered into within the limits of the United States (by which is meant the 48 States of the Union, the District of Columbia, the Territories of Hawaii and Alaska, the Panama Canal Zone, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands) by the United States or any of its agencies or instrumentalities for supplies mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States as contemplated by Section 2, Title III, of the act approved March 3, 1933, entitled "An Act Making appropriations for the Treasury and Post Office Departments for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1934, and for other purposes" (Public No. 428, 72d Congress), except as set forth in the proviso under paragraph (a) below, shall provide and require that: (a) The contractor shall…
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
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 August 10, 1933, this order concerns Administration of the National Industrial Recovery Act. (1) Contracts for Supplies. Every contract entered into within the limits of the United States (by which is meant the 48 States of the Union, the District of Columbia, the Territories of Hawaii and Alaska, the Panama Canal Zone, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands) by the United States or any of its agencies or instrumentalities for supplies mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States as contemplated by…
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
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Every contract entered into within the limits of the United States (by which is meant the 48 States of the Union, the District of Columbia, the Territories of Hawaii and Alaska, the Panama Canal Zone, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands) by the United States or any of its agencies or instrumentalities for supplies mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States as contemplated by Section 2, Title III, of the act approved March 3, 1933, entitled "An Act Making appropriations for the Treasury and Post Office Departments for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1934, and for other purposes" (Public No. 428, 72d Congress), except as set forth in the proviso under paragraph (a) below, shall provide and require that: (a) The contractor shall…
▪
If the contractor fails to comply with the foregoing provision, the Government may by written notice to the contractor terminate the contractor's right to proceed with the contract, and purchase in the open market the undelivered portion of the supplies covered by the contract, and the contractor and his sureties shall be liable to the Government for any excess cost occasioned the Government thereby.
▪
No disbursing officer shall be held liable for any payment made under the provisions of the foregoing act, or any Executive order issued under authority of that act, or for the unobligated balance of any overpayment involved.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
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 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
"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.
Hamiltonian Stance: Supportive of Execution
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
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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
Low Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
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
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
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
Low Friction
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
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%).
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
425
2,597 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
24.9
Post-Graduate Legal
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.
References Executive Order 6646—Government Contracts and Contracts Involving the Use of Government Funds
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1934-03-14
Related Executive Orders
Other executive actions signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt around this period.
EO 6247 Aug 10, 1933
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6247—Preparation, Form, Style, and Safeguarding of Executive Orders and Proclamations
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
In order to avoid misunderstanding and confusion, to secure greater uniformity in the form and style, and for the better safeguarding of the texts of Executive orders and proclamations, Executive Order No. 5658, dated June 24, 1931, is hereby rescinded and superseded by the…
Franklin D. Roosevelt College Level • 2m
EO 6245 Aug 9, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6245—Employees of Certain Executive Agencies Continued in the Service of the United States Temporarily
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
It appearing that the interests of good administration will be served by delay in putting into effect so much of Section 19 of Executive Order No. 6166, dated June 10, 1933, as relates to the separation of employees under Section 12 of the same Order, they are hereby continued…
Franklin D. Roosevelt College Level • 1m
EO 6244 Aug 8, 1933
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6244—Postponement of Certain Provisions of Executive Order No. 6166 of June 10, 1933
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Except as hereinafter I provided, the operation of the provisions of the first paragraph of Section 5 of the said Order in so far as the said provisions may relate to any function of the Office of the General Counsel for the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and the operation of all…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 6249 Aug 14, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6249—Code of Fair Competition for the Lace Manufacturing Industry
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The said Code of Fair Competition for the Lace Manufacturing Industry, as amended and submitted on July 7, 1933, is hereby approved, subject to the following condition: (1) To effectuate further the policies of the act, a Lace Manufacturing Industry Committee be created to…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 6248 Aug 14, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6248—Code of Fair Competition for the Corset and Brassiere Industry
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
I, Franklin D. Roosevelt , President of the United States, pursuant to the authority vested in me by Title I of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933, and otherwise, do adopt and approve the report, recommendations, and findings of the Administrator and…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 6243 Aug 5, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6243—Postponing Effective Date Transfer of the District Court of the United States for the Panama Canal Zone to Department of Justice
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The effective date of the transfer to the Department of Justice of the District Court of the United States for the Panama Canal Zone is hereby postponed to October 4, 1933.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 8 • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 6246 (Aug. 10, 1933), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6246-administration-the-national-industrial-recovery-act.
