Whereas the Congress of the United States has declared the existence of an acute national economic emergency which affects the national public interest and welfare, and Whereas , in order to meet the said emergency and to provide the relief necessary to protect the general welfare of the people, the Congress of the United States has enacted legislation including, among other statutes, the National Industrial Recovery Act of June 16, 1933 (Public No. 67, 73d Congress), the Agricultural Adjustment Act of May 12, 1933 (Public No. 10, 73d Congress) and the Federal Emergency Relief Act of May 12, 1933 (Public No. 15, 73d Congress); and Whereas it is deemed expedient and necessary that an organization be created for the purpose of coordinating and making more efficient and productive the work of the numerous field agencies of the Government established under, and for the purpose of carrying into, effect, the provisions of the said legislation; Now, Therefore , by virtue of the authority vested in me by the aforesaid legislation, there is hereby created an organization which shall be known as the National Emergency Council, at the head of which shall be an Executive Director who shall be appointed by the President and shall receive a salary to be fixed by him at not to exceed $10,000.00 per annum. The Council shall be composed of the following and such other members as the President may designate: The Secretary of the Interior (Administrator of Public Works) The Secretary of Agriculture The Secretary of Commerce The Secretary of Labor The Administrator of Agricultural Adjustment The Administrator of Federal Emergency Relief The Administrator for Industrial Recovery The Chairman of the Home Owners Loan Corporation The Governor of the Farm Credit Administration A representative of the Consumers' Council The members of the Council shall act in a capacity advisory to the President and the Executive Director and shall serve without compensation. The functions and duties of the Council shall be prescribed by the President, and such rules and regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes for which the Council is created shall be prescribed by the Executive Director and approved by the President. The Executive Director is authorized to execute the functions and to perform the duties vested in the Council by the President through such persons as the Executive Director shall designate, and he is further authorized to prescribe such rules and regulations as he may deem necessary to supplement, amplify or carry out the purposes and intent of such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by him and approved by the President under the provisions of this Order. The Executive Director may appoint, subject to the approval of the President, without regard to the Civil Service laws or the Classification Act of 1923, as amended, fix the compensation and prescribe the duties and authority of such officials and employees, and make such expenditures (including expenditures for personal services, and rent at the seat of the Government and elsewhere, for law books and books of reference, and for paper, binding, and printing) as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this Order. The Executive Director may also, with the consent of any board, commission, independent establishment, or executive department of the Government, including any field service thereof, avail himself of the services of the officials, employees, and the facilities thereof and, with the consent of the State or municipality concerned, may utilize such State and local officials and employees as he may deem necessary. For the purposes of this Order, the sum of $10,000 is hereby allocated to the National Emergency Council from the appropriation authorized by Section 220 of the National Recovery Act and made by the Fourth Deficiency Act, fiscal year 1933, approved June 16, 1933 (Public No. 77, 73d Congress). All volunteer field agencies established under, and for the purpose of effectuating, the provisions of the aforesaid legislation, are hereby abolished, this provision to become effective thirty days from the date of this Order; and thereafter all functions theretofore performed by said agencies and considered necessary by the Executive Director for carrying out the purposes of this Order shall be assumed and performed by the Council. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, November 17, 1933.
Executive Order 6433-A—Creation of the National Emergency Council
Executive Brief • At a Glance
There is hereby created an organization which shall be known as the National Emergency Council, at the head of which shall be an Executive Director who shall be appointed by the President and shall receive a salary to be fixed by him at not to exceed $10,000.00 per annum.
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 November 17, 1933, this order concerns Creation of the National Emergency Council. There is hereby created an organization which shall be known as the National Emergency Council, at the head of which shall be an Executive Director who shall be appointed by the President and shall receive a salary to be fixed by him at not to exceed $10,000.00 per annum.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
There is hereby created an organization which shall be known as the National Emergency Council, at the head of which shall be an Executive Director who shall be appointed by the President and shall receive a salary to be fixed by him at not to exceed $10,000.00 per annum.
The Council shall be composed of the following and such other members as the President may designate: The Secretary of the Interior (Administrator of Public Works) The Secretary of Agriculture The Secretary of Commerce The Secretary of Labor The Administrator of Agricultural Adjustment The Administrator of Federal Emergency Relief The Administrator for Industrial Recovery The Chairman of the Home Owners Loan Corporation The Governor of the Farm Credit Administration A representative of the Consumers' Council The members of the Council shall act in a capacity advisory to the President and the Executive Director and shall serve without compensation.
The functions and duties of the Council shall be prescribed by the President, and such rules and regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes for which the Council is created shall be prescribed by the Executive Director and approved by the President.
The Executive Director is authorized to execute the functions and to perform the duties vested in the Council by the President through such persons as the Executive Director shall designate, and he is further authorized to prescribe such rules and regulations as he may deem necessary to supplement, amplify or carry out the purposes and intent of such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by him and approved by the President under the provisions of this Order.
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 takes measures incompatible with the expressed or implied will of Congress, his power is at its lowest ebb."
James Madison
Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy
"The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands... may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." — Federalist No. 47 (1788)
Madison would express grave alarm over this order. By asserting independent authority in tension with legislative limits or the Bill of Rights, the Executive risks collapsing the separation of powers into unilateral rule. Under the Madisonian model, no emergency justifies the Executive substituting its decree for a deliberative Act of Congress.
Alexander Hamilton
The Energetic Executive & Unified Command
"The President is no King. He possesses no prerogative to dispense with statutes or command obedience contrary to the fundamental charter." — Federalist No. 69 (1788)
Even Hamilton—the staunchest advocate of presidential energy—drew a sharp line at royal prerogative in Federalist 69. While defending vigor, Hamilton conceded that an order clashing with established statutory boundaries strains the constitutional fabric and invites judicial nullification or political backlash.
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.
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
Invokes broad unilateral or emergency executive authorities that test the constitutional boundary of the Take Care Clause.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Creates friction with the Tenth Amendment by conditioning state grants, mandating local compliance, or preempting state police powers.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Scrutinized under the Bill of Rights for potential impact on private contracts, property rights, or procedural due process.
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The order asserts independent Article II prerogative against statutory constraints, reallocates funds without explicit appropriation, or stretches executive power into realms constitutionally reserved to the legislature or judiciary.
This directive engages significant constitutional friction across statutory authorization, legislative prerogatives, or individual liberties.
Referenced By Later Executive Orders (4)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 6433 (Nov. 17, 1933), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6433-creation-the-national-emergency-council.