Pursuant to authority vested in me by Title II of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933, I hereby designate the Federal Power Commission as an agency to aid the Federal Emergency Administrator of Public Works in the preparation of that part of the comprehensive program of public works provided for in Section 202 of the act which pertains to the development of water power and the transmission of electrical energy. As such agency, the Commission shall make a survey of the water resources of the United States as they relate to the conservation, development, control, and utilization of water power; of the relation of water power to other industries and to interstate and foreign commerce; and of the transmission of electrical energy in the United States and its distribution to consumers, and on the basis of this survey, shall formulate a program of public works. 2. I further authorize and direct the Commission to investigate, upon the request of the Federal Emergency Administrator of Public Works, applications for loans to be made under Title II of the National Industrial Recovery Act for the construction of public-works projects which involve the development and utilization of electric power, and to make recommendations with respect thereto to the Administrator. 3. The Commission shall have authority to appoint, without regard to the civil-service laws, such officers, experts, and employees as it may find necessary to carry out its functions under this order, to prescribe their authorities, duties, responsibilities, and tenure and, without regard to the Classification Act, 1923, as amended, to fix their compensation. The Commission shall have authority also to make all necessary expenditures (including expenditures for personal services and rent at the seat of government or elsewhere, for law books and books of reference and for paper, printing, and binding). 4. The total expenditures by the Commission in connection with its functions and duties under this order shall not exceed the sum of four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000.00). FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, August 19, 1933.
Executive Order 6251 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
Executive Order 6251—Designating the Federal Power Commission as an Agency to Aid the Federal Emergency Administrator of Public Works
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (338 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
I hereby designate the Federal Power Commission as an agency to aid the Federal Emergency Administrator of Public Works in the preparation of that part of the comprehensive program of public works provided for in Section 202 of the act which pertains to the development of water power and the transmission of electrical energy.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners Foreign Nations & International Entities
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 19, 1933, this order concerns Designating the Federal Power Commission as an Agency to Aid the Federal Emergency Administrator of Public Works. I hereby designate the Federal Power Commission as an agency to aid the Federal Emergency Administrator of Public Works in the preparation of that part of the comprehensive program of public works provided for in Section 202 of the act which pertains to the development of water power and the transmission of electrical energy.
Constitutional Assessment: Evaluated against the Fifth Amendment, this action touches upon property or economic rights. An early statesman would insist upon strict adherence to due process of law and the constitutional guarantee that private holdings shall not be encumbered or taken for public purposes without just compensation and lawful process.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
▪
I hereby designate the Federal Power Commission as an agency to aid the Federal Emergency Administrator of Public Works in the preparation of that part of the comprehensive program of public works provided for in Section 202 of the act which pertains to the development of water power and the transmission of electrical energy.
▪
As such agency, the Commission shall make a survey of the water resources of the United States as they relate to the conservation, development, control, and utilization of water power; of the relation of water power to other industries and to interstate and foreign commerce; and of the transmission of electrical energy in the United States and its distribution to consumers, and on the basis of this survey, shall formulate a program of public works. 2.
▪
I further authorize and direct the Commission to investigate, upon the request of the Federal Emergency Administrator of Public Works, applications for loans to be made under Title II of the National Industrial Recovery Act for the construction of public-works projects which involve the development and utilization of electric power, and to make recommendations with respect thereto to the Administrator. 3.
▪
The Commission shall have authority to appoint, without regard to the civil-service laws, such officers, experts, and employees as it may find necessary to carry out its functions under this order, to prescribe their authorities, duties, responsibilities, and tenure and, without regard to the Classification Act, 1923, as amended, to fix their compensation.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities
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 purse and the sword ought never to be in the same hands... nor the liberties of the citizen placed at the pleasure of a single magistrate." — Virginia Ratifying Convention (1788)
George Mason and the Anti-Federalists would sound a fierce warning. They feared that Article II would inevitably evolve into an elective monarchy. When an executive order impacts private rights, property, or civil liberties without individualized judicial process, Mason would see their darkest predictions verified.
Anti-Federalist Stance: High Bill of Rights Scrutiny
📐
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
30 / 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
Low Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
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
338
2,143 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
24.3
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
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EO 6252 Aug 19, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6252—Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
Pursuant to the authority vested in me by Section 201 (a) of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933, I hereby delegate to the Federal Emergency Administrator of Public Works the following functions and powers: 1.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 4m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 6251 (Aug. 19, 1933), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6251-designating-the-federal-power-commission-agency-aid-the-federal.
