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Executive Orders Historical Archive
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Executive Order 6606 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 6606-F—Prescribing Rules and Regulations for the Interpretation and Application of Certain Labor Provisions of Codes of Fair Competition as They May Affect Handicapped Workers

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Sunday, February 11, 1934
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2 min read (425 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (425 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

No provision of any Code of Fair Competition, agreement, or license, which has heretofore been or may hereafter be approved, prescribed or issued pursuant to said Title of said Act shall be so construed or applied as to violate the following rules and regulations which are hereby promulgated and prescribed, to-wit: 1.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

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 February 11, 1934, this order concerns Prescribing Rules and Regulations for the Interpretation and Application of Certain Labor Provisions of Codes of Fair Competition as They May Affect Handicapped Workers. No provision of any Code of Fair Competition, agreement, or license, which has heretofore been or may hereafter be approved, prescribed or issued pursuant to said Title of said Act shall be so construed or applied as to violate the following rules and regulations which are hereby promulgated and prescribed, to-wit: 1.

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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No provision of any Code of Fair Competition, agreement, or license, which has heretofore been or may hereafter be approved, prescribed or issued pursuant to said Title of said Act shall be so construed or applied as to violate the following rules and regulations which are hereby promulgated and prescribed, to-wit: 1.

▪

A person whose earning capacity is limited because of age, physical or mental handicap, or other infirmity, may be employed on light work at a wago below the minimum established by a Code, if the employer obtains from the state authority, designated by the United States Department of Labor, a certificate authorizing such person's employment at such wages and for such hours as shall be stated in the certificate.

▪

Sucii authority shall be guided by the instructions of the United States Department of Labor in issuing certificates to such persons.

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Each employer shall file monthly with the Code Authority a list of all such persons employed by him, showing the wages paid to, and the maximum hours of work for such employee. 2.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

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 1 (Maximum Authority)
§

"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
35 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

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

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

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

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
425
2,627 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
22
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

In Codes of Fair Competition which have heretofore been approved or submitted for approval and in such Codes which may hereafter be submitted and approved, question has arisen or may arise as to whether the minimum wage and maximum hour provisions preclude those handicapped by physical or mental defect, age or other infirmity from their former opportunities for obtaining employment. Pursuant to the Authority vested in me by Title I of the National Industrial Recovery Act, upon due consideration of the facts and upon the report and recommendation of the Administrator: I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, in order to carry out the purposes of Title I of the National Industrial Recovery Act, do hereby order that no provision of any Code of Fair Competition, agreement, or license, which has heretofore been or may hereafter be approved, prescribed or issued pursuant to said Title of said Act shall be so construed or applied as to violate the following rules and regulations which are hereby promulgated and prescribed, to-wit: 1. A person whose earning capacity is limited because of age, physical or mental handicap, or other infirmity, may be employed on light work at a wago below the minimum established by a Code, if the employer obtains from the state authority, designated by the United States Department of Labor, a certificate authorizing such person's employment at such wages and for such hours as shall be stated in the certificate. Sucii authority shall be guided by the instructions of the United States Department of Labor in issuing certificates to such persons. Each employer shall file monthly with the Code Authority a list of all such persons employed by him, showing the wages paid to, and the maximum hours of work for such employee. 2. Any approval order of a Code of Fair Competition, agreement or license heretofore approved, prescribed or issued pursuant to Title I of the National Industrial Recovery Act, if any necessity exists therefor in order to make these regulations effective, is hereby modified so as to permit and be conditional upon the full applications and operation of these regulations. These regulations shall become effective immediately and shall thereupon be binding upon all industries and members thereof unless, and only to such extent as, prior to that date good cause to the contrary shall be shown to the Administrator for Industrial Recovery by any affected party or parties with reference to any trade, industry, or subdivision thereof. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT Approval Recommended: Hugh S Johnson Administrator. The White House, Feb. 11th 1934.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 6606 (Feb. 11, 1934), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6606-f-prescribing-rules-and-regulations-for-the-interpretation-and.