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Executive Order 6527 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 6527-A—Additions and Amendments to the Code of Fair Competition for the Petroleum Industry

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Thursday, December 21, 1933
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5 min read (1,035 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 5 min read (1,035 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, pursuant to the authority vested in me by Title I of the aforesaid National Industrial Recovery Act, do adopt and approve the report, recommendations and findings of the Administrator, and do order that the attached additions and amendments to the aforesaid Code of Fair Competition for the Petroleum Industry be, and they are hereby approved.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 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 December 21, 1933, this order concerns Additions and Amendments to the Code of Fair Competition for the Petroleum Industry. I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, pursuant to the authority vested in me by Title I of the aforesaid National Industrial Recovery Act, do adopt and approve the report, recommendations and findings of the Administrator, and do order that the attached additions and amendments to the aforesaid Code of Fair Competition for the Petroleum Industry be, and they are hereby approved.

Constitutional Assessment: Reviewed under the Tenth Amendment and the principle of dual federalism, this order touches upon domains traditionally reserved to the sovereign States. The Framers would caution against any attempt to commandeer state officers or displace local police powers through federal executive fiat.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, pursuant to the authority vested in me by Title I of the aforesaid National Industrial Recovery Act, do adopt and approve the report, recommendations and findings of the Administrator, and do order that the attached additions and amendments to the aforesaid Code of Fair Competition for the Petroleum Industry be, and they are hereby approved.

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ADDITIONS AND AMENDMENTS TO THE CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION FOR THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY The first paragraph of Section 1 of Article II is amended to read as follows: "In drilling, production, refinery and pipe line operations, the maximum hours for clerical employees shall not exceed 48 hours in any one week nor more than 80 hours in any two weeks, and the rate of pay for each geographic division shall not be less than the minimum stated in Section 2.

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All other employees in these operations except executives, supervisors and their immediate staffs, and pumpers on 'stripper' wells and employees on isolated properties, shall work not more than 40 hours in any one week, nor more than 72 hours in any two weeks nor more than 16 hours in any two days.

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Definition of 'stripper wells' shall be made in various fields and areas by the Regional Committees, subject to the revision and approval of the Planning and Coordination Committee." The following Section is hereby added to the Code, to be known as Section 8 of Article III.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions
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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 1 (Maximum Authority)
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"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

"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: Supportive of Execution
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." — 10th Amendment to the US Constitution (1791)

Mason would scrutinize whether this federal directive intrudes into police powers, land stewardship, or municipal domains historically reserved to local citizens. The Anti-Federalist demand is that federal administration must never supplant state self-governance.

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.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
50 / 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

Low Friction

Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.

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

Federalism & State Sovereignty

High Friction

Creates friction with the Tenth Amendment by conditioning state grants, mandating local compliance, or preempting state police powers.

Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments

Due Process & Individual Rights

Moderate Friction

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

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Low Friction

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 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
1,035
6,231 characters
Estimated Read Time
5 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
20
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

An application having been duly made, pursuant to and in full compliance with the provisions of Title I of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933, for my approval of certain additions and amendments to tho Code of Fair Competition for the Petroleum Industry, approved by me August 19, 1933, and modified by me September 13, 1933, and such amendments and additions having been proposed to the Planning and Coordination Committee of the Petroleum Industry and to the Administrator of the aforesaid Code, pursuant to Sections 3, 4, and 4(a) of Article I of such Code, and to my order of August 28, 1933, authorized by Sections 2(a) and 10(b) of Title I of the said Act and Section 2 of Article I of such Code, and adequate hearings having been held thereon, and the Administrator having found that said additions and amendments comply in all respects with the provisions of Title I of said Act, and in particular, that the requirements of clauses of Sub-sections (a) and (b) of Section 3 of the said Act have been met; Now, Therefore , I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, pursuant to the authority vested in me by Title I of the aforesaid National Industrial Recovery Act, do adopt and approve the report, recommendations and findings of the Administrator, and do order that the attached additions and amendments to the aforesaid Code of Fair Competition for the Petroleum Industry be, and they are hereby approved. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT Approval recommended Harold C. Ickes Administrator of the Code of Fair Competition for the Petroleum Industry. The White House, December 21 1933. ADDITIONS AND AMENDMENTS TO THE CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION FOR THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY The first paragraph of Section 1 of Article II is amended to read as follows: "In drilling, production, refinery and pipe line operations, the maximum hours for clerical employees shall not exceed 48 hours in any one week nor more than 80 hours in any two weeks, and the rate of pay for each geographic division shall not be less than the minimum stated in

Section 2. #sec-2

Employees on drilling operations other than clerical employees may work not more than 8 hours in any one day nor more than 48 hours in any one week, nor more than an average of 36 hours per week for any twenty-six consecutive calendar weeks; provided that such employees may work more than 8 hours in any one day, but not more than 16 hours in any two days, if the conditions are such that relief is impracticable. All other employees in these operations except executives, supervisors and their immediate staffs, and pumpers on 'stripper' wells and employees on isolated properties, shall work not more than 40 hours in any one week, nor more than 72 hours in any two weeks nor more than 16 hours in any two days. Definition of 'stripper wells' shall be made in various fields and areas by the Regional Committees, subject to the revision and approval of the Planning and Coordination Committee." The following Section is hereby added to the Code, to be known as Section 8 of Article III. "Section 8. The following practices are hereby declared to be unfair methods of competition and in violation of this Code: (a). Any secret agreement by any drilling contractor with any official or employee of any company engaged in the production of petroleum by which such official or employee acquires any interest in the contractor's business or profits, either directly or indirectly. (b). The giving of any rebate, discount, or other concession by any drilling contractor from the price specified in the contract for the drilling of a well. (c). The submission of a bid for a drilling contract in such form as to indicate that the bidder will accept the contract at an amount less than or at the same price as the lowest competitive bid and/or the submission of a bid without a statement of the amount bid. (d). Any contract entered into for the drilling of a well whereby the contractor agrees to receive in payment or partial payment more products of petroleum than are reasonably necessary for use in the drilling of said well, or for other uses pertinent to the drilling of said well. (e). To pay employees in anything other than cash or check, paid on demand. Payments shall be made at such time or times as are provided by state law. (f). Any contract entered into by a contractor for the drilling of a well at a price less than the fair economic cost of operation. Such fair economic cost of operation shall be determined according to sound accounting principles, and shall include overhead, administration, obsolescence, depreciation, well and operating costs, and a reasonable allowance for hazard. Upon request being made therefor by any representative group of producers and/or drilling contractors, the appropriate regional committee or such sub-committee as the regional committee may appoint for any region, state, zone, or area, shall hold a hearing or hearings for the purpose of ascertaining the fair economic cost of operations in any field, zone or area. Such notice shall be given of said hearing or hearings as shall be determined, either by the regional committee or by the sub-committee so appointed. The determinations arrived at by such regional committee or sub-committee for each field, zone or area shall be immediately filed with the Planning and Coordination Committee and with the President, but shall be effective immediately upon approval by the said regional committee. The Planning and Coordination Committee or the President may modify or change any such determination of costs arrived at." The following Section is hereby added to the Code, to be known as Section 7(a) of Article VIII. "Section 7(a). The Planning and Coordination Committee shall appoint, subject to the approval of the Administrator, sub-committees, state or regional, to represent the drilling branch of the petroleum industry. The committee shall accord representation on such sub-committees to drilling contractors and/or recognized associations thereof, based on nominations made by such associations and/or groups of drilling contractors, such representation to be equal to that accorded the representatives of the producing branch of the industry."

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 6527 (Dec. 21, 1933), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6527-additions-and-amendments-the-code-fair-competition-for-the-petroleum.