★
Executive Orders Historical Archive
Cite
Executive Order 6981 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 6981—Removing, in Certain Cases, Restrictions Imposed by Public Resolution 53, of June 27, 1934, as to Payments, Transfers, and Deliveries of Property under the Trading with the Enemy Act and the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928

•
Saturday, March 2, 1935
•
3 min read (620 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (620 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

For the purposes of the said resolution, it is hereby determined that Germany has been and is now in arrears in payments of principal and interest under the debt-funding agreement between Germany and the United States dated June 23, 1930, with respect to the obligations of Germany on account of awards entered and to be entered by the Mixed Claims Commission, United States and Germany.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Private Citizens & Property Owners Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

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 March 2, 1935, this order concerns Removing, in Certain Cases, Restrictions Imposed by Public Resolution 53, of June 27, 1934, as to Payments, Transfers, and Deliveries of Property under the Trading with the Enemy Act and the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928. Order as follows: Section 1. For the purposes of the said resolution, it is hereby determined that Germany has been and is now in arrears in payments of principal and interest under the debt-funding agreement between Germany and the United States dated June 23, 1930, with respect to the obligations of Germany on account of awards entered and to be entered by the Mixed Claims Commission, United States and Germany.

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

▪

For the purposes of the said resolution, it is hereby determined that Germany has been and is now in arrears in payments of principal and interest under the debt-funding agreement between Germany and the United States dated June 23, 1930, with respect to the obligations of Germany on account of awards entered and to be entered by the Mixed Claims Commission, United States and Germany.

▪

The period in which Germany is in arrears shall be deemed to continue for the purposes of this order until it is determined by the President that such period has terminated.

▪

The restrictions imposed by the said resolution are hereby removed except as to the following payments, conveyances, transfers, or deliveries of money or property or of the income, issues, profits, or avails thereof: 1.To any person who was on April 6, 1917, or who at any time since that date has been, a German national, unless such person is entitled to receive payment under section 9, subsection (b) (1), of the Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended, or unless such person is a national of the United States at the time of payment, conveyance, transfer or delivery, and was on June 1, 1934, the legal and beneficial owner of the claim to the money or property or the income, issues, profits, or avails thereof, and on or before June 1, 1934…

▪

For the purposes of this Executive order, (a) the nationality, residence, domicile, or other qualification of claimants under the Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended, shall be that determined by the Attorney General; and (b) the nationality, residence, domicile, or other qualification of claimants to money or property or the income, issues, profits, or avails thereof, held in the German Special Deposit Account, and in the Austrian and Hungarian Special Deposit Accounts, shall be that determined by the Secretary of the Treasury.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

Policy Areas & Topics

🏛️

The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating 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
42 / 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

Moderate Friction

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
620
3,717 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
21.8
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document
📑Sections Outline (3 sections)

By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by Public Resolution 53, approved June 27, 1934 (48 Stat. 1267), the Trading with the Enemy Act, approved October 6, 1917 (40 Stat. 411), as amended, and the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928, approved March 10, 1928 (45 Stat. 254), I do hereby order as follows:

Section 1. #sec-1

For the purposes of the said resolution, it is hereby determined that Germany has been and is now in arrears in payments of principal and interest under the debt-funding agreement between Germany and the United States dated June 23, 1930, with respect to the obligations of Germany on account of awards entered and to be entered by the Mixed Claims Commission, United States and Germany. The period in which Germany is in arrears shall be deemed to continue for the purposes of this order until it is determined by the President that such period has terminated.

Section 2. #sec-2

The restrictions imposed by the said resolution are hereby removed except as to the following payments, conveyances, transfers, or deliveries of money or property or of the income, issues, profits, or avails thereof: 1.To any person who was on April 6, 1917, or who at any time since that date has been, a German national, unless such person is entitled to receive payment under section 9, subsection (b) (1), of the Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended, or unless such person is a national of the United States at the time of payment, conveyance, transfer or delivery, and was on June 1, 1934, the legal and beneficial owner of the claim to the money or property or the income, issues, profits, or avails thereof, and on or before June 1, 1934, the United States received written notice of such ownership. 2.To any person domiciled or resident within the territory of Germany, except a natural person who is a national of the United States at the time of payment, conveyance, transfer, or delivery. 3.To any corporation, association, or partnership, or other unincorporated body of individuals or a body politic which on or at any time since April 6, 1917, was organized or existed under the laws of Germany or had its principal place of business in Germany. 4.To any corporation, association, or partnership, or other unincorporated body of individuals, or a body politic in which a substantial legal or beneficial interest is owned directly or indirectly by any person to whom payment, conveyance, transfer, or delivery continues to be postponed under subdivision 1, 2, or 3 hereof, or to any person who is a trustee of such money or property for a person to whom payment, conveyance, transfer, or delivery continues to be postponed under subdivision 1, 2, or 3 hereof. 5.To the heirs, devisees, legatees, executors, administrators, representatives, creditors, successors, or assigns of any person to whom payment, conveyance, transfer, or delivery continues to be postponed under subdivision 1, 2, 3, or 4 hereof, except to such heirs, devisees, or legatees as are natural persons and have been nationals of the United States from June 1, 1934, to the time of payment, conveyance, transfer, or delivery.

Section 3. #sec-3

For the purposes of this Executive order, (a) the nationality, residence, domicile, or other qualification of claimants under the Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended, shall be that determined by the Attorney General; and (b) the nationality, residence, domicile, or other qualification of claimants to money or property or the income, issues, profits, or avails thereof, held in the German Special Deposit Account, and in the Austrian and Hungarian Special Deposit Accounts, shall be that determined by the Secretary of the Treasury. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, March 2, 1935.

🔗

Referenced By Later Executive Orders (2)

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

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 6981 (Mar. 2, 1935), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6981-removing-certain-cases-restrictions-imposed-public-resolution-53-june.