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Executive Order 6440 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process

Executive Order 6440—Rates of Compensation of Government Employees in Emergency Agencies Not Subject to the Classification Act, and Acts Amendatory Thereof

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Saturday, November 18, 1933
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3 min read (608 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (608 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The respective heads of National Industrial Recovery Administration, Agricultural Adjustment Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, Public Works Administration, Emergency Conservation Work, Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Farm Credit Administration, Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Home Owners' Loan Corporation, Federal Coordinator of Transportation, which are authorized by law to employ personal services and to fix rates of compensation therefor without regard to the Classification Act of 1923, is amended, shall, unless otherwise specifically authorized by me, fix such rates for officers and employees now in the service, as well as for those hereafter appointed, at the amounts prescribed in the following…

⚖️ 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 Public Health & Medical Institutions

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 18, 1933, this order concerns Rates of Compensation of Government Employees in Emergency Agencies Not Subject to the Classification Act, and Acts Amendatory Thereof. The respective heads of National Industrial Recovery Administration, Agricultural Adjustment Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, Public Works Administration, Emergency Conservation Work, Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Farm Credit Administration, Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Home Owners' Loan Corporation, Federal Coordinator of Transportation, which are authorized by law to employ personal…

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

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The respective heads of National Industrial Recovery Administration, Agricultural Adjustment Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, Public Works Administration, Emergency Conservation Work, Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Farm Credit Administration, Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Home Owners' Loan Corporation, Federal Coordinator of Transportation, which are authorized by law to employ personal services and to fix rates of compensation therefor without regard to the Classification Act of 1923, is amended, shall, unless otherwise specifically authorized by me, fix such rates for officers and employees now in the service, as well as for those hereafter appointed, at the amounts prescribed in the following…

▪

In all cases not subject to the provisions of section 2, title II, of the act of March 20, 1933 (Public, No. 2, 73d Cong.), the rates payable under this schedule shall be decreased by the amount, if any, by which such rate would be reduced pursuant to the provisions of said section 2 if such section were applicable.

▪

All appointments hereafter shall stipulate that the rate to be paid thereunder shall be the appropriate specific rate of the schedule less the amount, if any, by which such rate would be reduced pursuant to the provisions of said section 2 if such section were applicable.

▪

In making the initial adjustment of salaries under this order, where it is necessary to reduce the present rate of an employee to conform to the rate scheduled for the grade to which his position is allocated under the salary schedule herein approved, the head of the department, establishment, or agency concerned may fix such basic rate at an amount not more than 20 percent in excess of such scheduled rate (a) where the employee is occupying a position allocated to grade 13 or higher in the said salary schedule, or (b) where the employee was reinstated or transferred under the civil-service rules to his present position from a regular Government establishment (or could have been so reinstated or transferred), or where the employee was…

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions

Policy Areas & Topics

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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating 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
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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.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
52 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

High Friction

Touches upon core congressional prerogatives: raises appropriations reallocation, tariff imposition, or statutory preemption questions.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Moderate Friction

Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

Moderate Friction

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

Due Process & Individual Rights

Low Friction

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

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Moderate Friction

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%).
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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
608
3,970 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
12.7
High School
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, and under authority of section 1753 of the Revised Statutes, and in order to secure greater uniformity in the rates of compensation of employees engaged upon the same or similar classes of work, it is hereby ordered that the respective heads of National Industrial Recovery Administration, Agricultural Adjustment Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, Public Works Administration, Emergency Conservation Work, Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Farm Credit Administration, Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Home Owners' Loan Corporation, Federal Coordinator of Transportation, which are authorized by law to employ personal services and to fix rates of compensation therefor without regard to the Classification Act of 1923, is amended, shall, unless otherwise specifically authorized by me, fix such rates for officers and employees now in the service, as well as for those hereafter appointed, at the amounts prescribed in the following salary-standardization schedule, in accordance with the duties and responsibilities of the positions occupied by them: SALARY SCHEDULE, EMERGENCY AGENCIES Grade Salary Corresponding services and grades under amended Classification Act 1 $840------------- Cu-1 ($600). 2 $1,080----------- Cu-2. 3 $1,260----------- CAF-1 SP-2. 4 $1,440----------- CAF-2. SP-3. 5 $1,620----------- CAF-3. SP-4. 6 $1,800----------- CAF-4. SP-5. 7 $2,000----------- P-1; CAF-5. Cu- 8; SP- 6. 8 $2,300----------- CAF-6. Cu- 9 SP-7. 9 $2,600----------- P-2; CAF-7. Cu-10; SP-8. 10 $2,900----------- CAF- 8. 11 $3,200----------- P-3. CAF. 9. 12 $3,600----------- CAF-10 ($3,500). 13 $4,000----------- P-4 CAF-11 ($3,800). 14 $4,500----------- P-5 CAF-12 ($4,600). 15 $5,200----------- P-6 CAF-13 ($5,600). 16 $6,000----------- P-7 CAF-14 ($6,500). 17 $6,800----------- 18 $8,000----------- P-8. CAF-15. 19 Over $8,000----- P-9 CAF-16 (over $9,000). In all cases not subject to the provisions of section 2, title II, of the act of March 20, 1933 (Public, No. 2, 73d Cong.), the rates payable under this schedule shall be decreased by the amount, if any, by which such rate would be reduced pursuant to the provisions of said section 2 if such section were applicable. All appointments hereafter shall stipulate that the rate to be paid thereunder shall be the appropriate specific rate of the schedule less the amount, if any, by which such rate would be reduced pursuant to the provisions of said section 2 if such section were applicable. In making the initial adjustment of salaries under this order, where it is necessary to reduce the present rate of an employee to conform to the rate scheduled for the grade to which his position is allocated under the salary schedule herein approved, the head of the department, establishment, or agency concerned may fix such basic rate at an amount not more than 20 percent in excess of such scheduled rate (a) where the employee is occupying a position allocated to grade 13 or higher in the said salary schedule, or (b) where the employee was reinstated or transferred under the civil-service rules to his present position from a regular Government establishment (or could have been so reinstated or transferred), or where the employee was selected from the reemployment list of the Civil Service Commission, provided such 20 percent excess, or part thereof, shall he applied only insofar as is necessary to increase the basic salary rate of the employee so reinstated, transferred, or reemployed, as fixed under the said salary schedule, to an amount not in excess of the basic salary rate last received by him in the department or establishment in which he was previously employed. Such adjustments in existing rates of compensation as may be necessary to comply with the provisions of this order shall be made effective as soon hereafter as may be practicable. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, November 18, 1933.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (4)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 6440 (Nov. 18, 1933), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6440-rates-compensation-government-employees-emergency-agencies-not.