BY virtue of the authority vested in me under Tide I of the National Industrial Recovery Act approved June 16, 1933 (Public No. 67, 73d Congress), and in order to effectuate the purposes of said Act, it is hereby ordered as follows: (1) The National Labor Board, created on August 5, 1933, to "pass promptly on any case of hardship or dispute that may arise from interpretation or application of the President's Reemployment Agreement," shall continue to adjust all industrial disputes, whether arising out of the interpretation and operation of the President's Reemployment Agreement or any duly approved industrial code of fair competition, and to compose all conflicts threatening the industrial peace of the country. All action heretofore taken by this Board in the discharge of its function is hereby approved and ratified. (2) The powers and functions of said Board shall be as follows: (a) To settle by mediation, conciliation, or arbitration all controversies between employers and employees which tend to impede the purposes of the National Industrial Recovery Act, provided, however, the Board may decline to take cognizance of controversies between employers and employees in any field of trade or industry where a means of settlement, provided for by agreement, industrial code, or Federal law, has not been invoked. (b) To establish local or regional boards upon which employers and employees shall be equally represented, and to delegate thereto such powers and territorial jurisdiction as the National Labor Board may determine. (c) To review the determinations of the local or regional boards where the public interest so requires. (d) To make rules and regulations governing its procedure and the discharge of its functions.
Executive Order 6511 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order 6511—Powers of the National Labor Board Are Increased
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (275 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
The National Labor Board, created on August 5, 1933, to "pass promptly on any case of hardship or dispute that may arise from interpretation or application of the President's Reemployment Agreement," shall continue to adjust all industrial disputes, whether arising out of the interpretation and operation of the President's Reemployment Agreement or any duly approved industrial code of fair competition, and to compose all conflicts threatening the industrial peace of the country.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Private Citizens & Property Owners
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 December 16, 1933, this order concerns Powers of the National Labor Board Are Increased. The National Labor Board, created on August 5, 1933, to "pass promptly on any case of hardship or dispute that may arise from interpretation or application of the President's Reemployment Agreement," shall continue to adjust all industrial disputes, whether arising out of the interpretation and operation of the President's Reemployment Agreement or any duly approved industrial code of fair competition, and to…
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 National Labor Board, created on August 5, 1933, to "pass promptly on any case of hardship or dispute that may arise from interpretation or application of the President's Reemployment Agreement," shall continue to adjust all industrial disputes, whether arising out of the interpretation and operation of the President's Reemployment Agreement or any duly approved industrial code of fair competition, and to compose all conflicts threatening the industrial peace of the country.
▪
All action heretofore taken by this Board in the discharge of its function is hereby approved and ratified.
▪
The powers and functions of said Board shall be as follows: (a) To settle by mediation, conciliation, or arbitration all controversies between employers and employees which tend to impede the purposes of the National Industrial Recovery Act, provided, however, the Board may decline to take cognizance of controversies between employers and employees in any field of trade or industry where a means of settlement, provided for by agreement, industrial code, or Federal law, has not been invoked.
▪
To establish local or regional boards upon which employers and employees shall be equally represented, and to delegate thereto such powers and territorial jurisdiction as the National Labor Board may determine.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises
🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
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
33 / 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
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
275
1,741 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
20.8
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.
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1934-06-29
Related Executive Orders
Other executive actions signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt around this period.
EO 6512 Dec 16, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6512-A—Appointing Charles Brenton as a Presidential Member of the Bituminous Coal Labor Board for Division I
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
In accordance with the terms of the Code of Fair Competition for the Bituminous Coal Industry as approved by Executive order of September 18, 1933, I hereby appoint Charles Brenton Barnes as the wholly impartial and disinterested Presidential member of the Bituminous Coal Labor…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 6512 Dec 16, 1933
⚖️⚠️ Zone 3 (Lowest Ebb) Friction (-0.19)
Executive Order 6512—Amendment of Executive Order No. 6433-A, of November 17, 1933
📜 Executive Prerogative & Inherent Power Assertion
The effective date for the abolition of the aforesaid volunteer field agencies be, and hereby is, deferred to January 16, 1934.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 6510 Dec 15, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6510—Men's Clothing Industry
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
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 approve the granting of the aforesaid applications, and do order that the final…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 4m
EO 6510 Dec 15, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6510-A—Code of Fair Competition for the Fur Trapping Contractors 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 do…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 6509 Dec 15, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6509—Code of Fair Competition for the Dry and Polishing Mop Manufacturing 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 do…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 6508 Dec 15, 1933
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6508—Code of Fair Competition for the Stone Finishing Machinery and Equipment 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 and recommendations, and findings of the Administrator and…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 6511 (Dec. 16, 1933), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6511-powers-the-national-labor-board-are-increased.
