By virtue of the authority vested in me by the National Industrial Recovery Act (Public No. 67, 73d Cong.), I hereby establish the National Resources Board, consisting of the Secretary of the Interior (chairman), the Secretary of War, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the Federal Emergency Relief Administrator, Frederic A. Delano, Charles E. Merriam, and Wesley C. Mitchell. An advisory committee, consisting of Frederic A. Delano (chairman), Charles E. Merriam, and Wesley C. Mitchell, is hereby constituted, to which additional members may be added from time to time by order of the President. There is also established a technical committee with no fixed membership or tenure of office to be selected by the Board. The functions of the Board shall be to prepare and present to the President a program and plan of procedure dealing with the physical, social, governmental, and economic aspects of public policies for the development and use of land, water, and other national resources, and such related subjects as may from time to time be referred to it by the President. The Board shall submit a report on land and water use on or before December 1, 1934. The program and plan shall include the coordination of projects of Federal, State, and local governments and the proper division of responsibility and the fair division of cost among the several governmental authorities. The National Planning Board of the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works is hereby abolished, and all of its powers, duties, records, personnel, equipment, and funds are hereby transferred to the National Resources Board. The Committee on National Land Problems, created by Executive Order No. 6693, of April 28, 1934, is hereby abolished. The Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works is hereby directed to allot to the National Resources Board the sum of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), and such additional sums as may be approved from time to time by the President, to carry out its functions. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, June 30, 1934.
Executive Order 6777 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 6777—Establishing the National Resources Board
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (339 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
I hereby establish the National Resources Board, consisting of the Secretary of the Interior (chairman), the Secretary of War, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the Federal Emergency Relief Administrator, Frederic A. Delano, Charles E. Merriam, and Wesley C. Mitchell.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Sovereign State Governments & Localities 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 June 30, 1934, this order concerns Establishing the National Resources Board. I hereby establish the National Resources Board, consisting of the Secretary of the Interior (chairman), the Secretary of War, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the Federal Emergency Relief Administrator, Frederic A. Delano, Charles E. Merriam, and Wesley C. Mitchell.
Constitutional Assessment: Scrutinized through Article II, Section 2, this action exercises the President's constitutional role as Commander in Chief. Early Framers recognized broad executive discretion in commanding military forces during conflict, provided it remains bounded by congressional declarations and respects civilian domestic courts.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
▪
I hereby establish the National Resources Board, consisting of the Secretary of the Interior (chairman), the Secretary of War, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the Federal Emergency Relief Administrator, Frederic A. Delano, Charles E. Merriam, and Wesley C. Mitchell.
▪
An advisory committee, consisting of Frederic A. Delano (chairman), Charles E. Merriam, and Wesley C. Mitchell, is hereby constituted, to which additional members may be added from time to time by order of the President.
▪
There is also established a technical committee with no fixed membership or tenure of office to be selected by the Board.
▪
The functions of the Board shall be to prepare and present to the President a program and plan of procedure dealing with the physical, social, governmental, and economic aspects of public policies for the development and use of land, water, and other national resources, and such related subjects as may from time to time be referred to it by the President.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises
🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities
🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions
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
"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: Strong Prerogative Support
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
38 / 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
Moderate Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
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
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
339
2,108 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
12.3
High School
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 • 1935-06-07
Related Executive Orders
1 order cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 6693 Apr 28, 1934
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6693—Creation of the Committee on National Land Problems
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
There is hereby created a committee which shall be known as "the Committee on National Land Problems." The members of the Committee shall be appointed by the President, and it shall be composed of one representative of each of the following: Department of the Interior…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 6790 Jun 30, 1934
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6790—Code of Fair Competition for the Auction and Loose-Leaf Tobacco Warehouse 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 hereby find: 1.
Franklin D. Roosevelt College Level • 2m
EO 6789 Jun 30, 1934
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6789—Authorizing the Alaska Railroad to Engage in Coastwise and Ocean Transportation
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The Alaska Railroad is hereby authorized and directed to charter any or all vessels which may be required, and to perform any and all acts necessary for the operation of such vessels for transporting passengers and freight to and from any or all accessible portions of the…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 6788 Jun 30, 1934
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6788—Amendment of Executive Order No. 6474 of December 4, 1933, of Executive Order No. 6576 of January 25, 1934, and of Executive Order No. 6683 of April 19, 1934
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Paragraph (3) of Executive Order No. 6474, of December 4, 1933, relating to the establishment of the Federal Alcohol Control Administration, etc., as amended by Executive Order No. 6576, of January 25, 1934, and by Executive Order No. 6683 of April 19, 1934, is hereby amended…
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
EO 6787 Jun 30, 1934
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6787—Amendment of Executive Order No. 6208, of July 21, 1933, Entitled "Purchase of Forest Lands for Emergency Conservation Work"
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order No. 6208, of July 21, 1933, allocating funds for the purchase of forest lands for emergency conservation work, from the appropriation for National Industrial Recovery made by the Fourth Deficiency Act, fiscal year 1933, is hereby amended by adding thereto the…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 6786 Jun 30, 1934
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6786—Transfer of Lands From the Klamath National Forest to the Shasta National Forest
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
All lands of the Klamath National Forest as defined by proclamation of June 30, 1911 (37 Stat. 1707), lying to the east of the range line between townships 4 and 5 west, beginning at the northwest corner of township 43 north, range 4 west, Mount Diablo meridian, be, and they…
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 6777 (June 30, 1934), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6777-establishing-the-national-resources-board.
