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Executive Order 6670 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution

Executive Order 6670—Transfer of Functions of the Veterans' Administration Pertaining to Civil Service Retirement Activities to the Civil Service Commission

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt
•
Saturday, April 7, 1934
•
2 min read (420 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (420 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The duties, powers, and functions now vested in the Veterans' Administration pertaining to the administration of civil service retirement activities under the Civil Service Retirement Act of May 29, 1930 (ch. 349, 46 Stat. 468), as amended, Executive Order No. 5398 of July 21, 1930, and the Canal Zone Retirement Act of March 2, 1931 (ch. 375, 46 Stat. 1471), as amended, be, and they are hereby, transferred to and vested in the United States Civil Service Commission.

View all 4 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners
Inspect unabridged text ↓

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 April 7, 1934, this order concerns Transfer of Functions of the Veterans' Administration Pertaining to Civil Service Retirement Activities to the Civil Service Commission. The duties, powers, and functions now vested in the Veterans' Administration pertaining to the administration of civil service retirement activities under the Civil Service Retirement Act of May 29, 1930 (ch. 349, 46 Stat. 468), as amended, Executive Order No. 5398 of July 21, 1930, and the Canal Zone Retirement Act of March 2, 1931 (ch. 375, 46 Stat. 1471), as amended, be, and they are hereby, transferred to and…

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

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The duties, powers, and functions now vested in the Veterans' Administration pertaining to the administration of civil service retirement activities under the Civil Service Retirement Act of May 29, 1930 (ch. 349, 46 Stat. 468), as amended, Executive Order No. 5398 of July 21, 1930, and the Canal Zone Retirement Act of March 2, 1931 (ch. 375, 46 Stat. 1471), as amended, be, and they are hereby, transferred to and vested in the United States Civil Service Commission.

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All personnel, records, files, and property, including office furniture and equipment, of the Veterans' Administration employed or used in the discharge of the duties, powers, and functions transferred by this order are hereby transferred to the Civil Service Commission.

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The unexpended balances of appropriations and/or allotments of appropriations now, or which may become, available to the Veterans' Administration for the performance of the duties, powers, and functions transferred by this order shall be transferred to the Civil Service Commission to such extent as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget may deem necessary, and any remaining balance shall, in accordance with law, be impounded and returned to the Treasury.

▪

This order will become effective in accordance with the provisions of section 1 of title III of the act of March 20, 1933 (ch. 3, 48 Stat. 16): Provided , That in case it shall appear to the President that the interests of economy require that the transfer be delayed beyond the date this order is to become effective, he may, in his discretion, fix a later date therefor, and he may for like cause defer such date from time to time.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Government Operations & Civil Service 🏷️ National Security & Defense 🏷️ Economy & Finance
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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

"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)

Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.

Hamiltonian Stance: Supportive of Execution
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
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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.

🛡️ High Constitutional Concordance
28 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Low Friction

Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.

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

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 in close harmony with statutory authority and standard Article II supervisory execution.

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
420
2,556 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
15.9
College Level
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

Whereas section 16 of the act of March 3, 1933 (ch. 212, 47 Stat. 1517), provides for reorganizations within the executive branch of the Government, requires the President to investigate and determine what reorganizations are necessary to effectuate the purposes of the act, and authorizes the President to make such reorganizations by Executive order; and Whereas after investigation I find and declare that the transfer to the United States Civil Service Commission of the functions of administration pertaining to the retirement of civil employees of the Government now vested in the Veterans' Administration would be in the public interest and would effectuate the purposes of said section 16; Now, Therefore , by virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the aforesaid section 16 of the act of March 3, 1933, it is ordered that the duties, powers, and functions now vested in the Veterans' Administration pertaining to the administration of civil service retirement activities under the Civil Service Retirement Act of May 29, 1930 (ch. 349, 46 Stat. 468), as amended, Executive Order No. 5398 of July 21, 1930, and the Canal Zone Retirement Act of March 2, 1931 (ch. 375, 46 Stat. 1471), as amended, be, and they are hereby, transferred to and vested in the United States Civil Service Commission. All personnel, records, files, and property, including office furniture and equipment, of the Veterans' Administration employed or used in the discharge of the duties, powers, and functions transferred by this order are hereby transferred to the Civil Service Commission. The unexpended balances of appropriations and/or allotments of appropriations now, or which may become, available to the Veterans' Administration for the performance of the duties, powers, and functions transferred by this order shall be transferred to the Civil Service Commission to such extent as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget may deem necessary, and any remaining balance shall, in accordance with law, be impounded and returned to the Treasury. This order will become effective in accordance with the provisions of section 1 of title III of the act of March 20, 1933 (ch. 3, 48 Stat. 16): Provided , That in case it shall appear to the President that the interests of economy require that the transfer be delayed beyond the date this order is to become effective, he may, in his discretion, fix a later date therefor, and he may for like cause defer such date from time to time. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT Done in triplicate The White House, April 7 1934.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

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

References Executive Order 6731—Postponement of Effective Date of Transfer of Functions of the Veterans' Administration Pertaining to Civil-Service Retirement to the Civil Service Commission
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1934-06-05
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 6670 (Apr. 7, 1934), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6670-transfer-functions-the-veterans-administration-pertaining-civil.