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Executive Order 6990 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process

Executive Order 6990—Veterans Regulation No. 2 (d)

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt
•
Tuesday, March 19, 1935
•
2 min read (387 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (387 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

EFFECTIVE DATES OF AWARDS OF DISABILITY AND DEATH PENSIONS; PROVISIONS FOR FILING CLAIMS; REVIEW OF PRESUMPTIVE CLAIMS BY SPECIAL REVIEW BOARDS By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me under section 9 of title I of the act of March 20, 1933, 48 Stat. 10, as amended by section 32 of the act of March 28, 1934, 48 Stat. 526 (38 U.S.C. 709), the following regulation amending Veterans Regulation No. 2 (a), as amended, is hereby prescribed: 1.

View all 4 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments
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 March 19, 1935, this order concerns Veterans Regulation No. 2 (d). EFFECTIVE DATES OF AWARDS OF DISABILITY AND DEATH PENSIONS; PROVISIONS FOR FILING CLAIMS; REVIEW OF PRESUMPTIVE CLAIMS BY SPECIAL REVIEW BOARDS By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me under section 9 of title I of the act of March 20, 1933, 48 Stat. 10, as amended by section 32 of the act of March 28, 1934, 48 Stat. 526 (38 U.S.C. 709), the following regulation amending Veterans Regulation No. 2…

Constitutional Assessment: Evaluated against the Fifth Amendment, this action touches upon property or economic rights. An early statesman would insist upon strict adherence to due process of law and the constitutional guarantee that private holdings shall not be encumbered or taken for public purposes without just compensation and lawful process.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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EFFECTIVE DATES OF AWARDS OF DISABILITY AND DEATH PENSIONS; PROVISIONS FOR FILING CLAIMS; REVIEW OF PRESUMPTIVE CLAIMS BY SPECIAL REVIEW BOARDS By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me under section 9 of title I of the act of March 20, 1933, 48 Stat. 10, as amended by section 32 of the act of March 28, 1934, 48 Stat. 526 (38 U.S.C. 709), the following regulation amending Veterans Regulation No. 2 (a), as amended, is hereby prescribed: 1.

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Paragraph I of Part I of Veterans Regulation No. 2 (a) is hereby amended to read as follows: "I. The effective date of an award of pension shall be as follows: "(a) The effective date of an award of pension shall be fixed in accordance with the facts found, except that: "(1) No award of disability or death pension shall be effective prior to the date of the veteran's separation from service, date of the veteran's death, date of the happening of the contingency upon which disability or death pension is allowed, or the date of receipt of application therefor, whichever is the later date.

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"(3) Where a claim has been finally disallowed, a subsequent claim on the same factual basis, if supported by new and material evidence, shall have the attributes of a new claim, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph II, Part II of Veterans Regulation No. 2-Series." 2.

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Paragraph IV, subparagraph (b) of Part I of Veterans Regulation No. 2 (a) is hereby amended to read as follows: "(b) Pension to a dependent mother or father shall continue during dependency until death or remarriage of the mother or father, whether the dependency arises prior or subsequent to the death of the veteran, provided, however, that when pension or compensation is properly discontinued by reason of remarriage it shall not thereafter be recommenced." 3.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ National Security & Defense 🏷️ Civil Rights & Liberties
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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 2 (Zone of Twilight)
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"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

"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: Defends Vigor & Dispatch
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The purse and the sword ought never to be in the same hands... nor the liberties of the citizen placed at the pleasure of a single magistrate." — Virginia Ratifying Convention (1788)

George Mason and the Anti-Federalists would sound a fierce warning. They feared that Article II would inevitably evolve into an elective monarchy. When an executive order impacts private rights, property, or civil liberties without individualized judicial process, Mason would see their darkest predictions verified.

Anti-Federalist Stance: High Bill of Rights Scrutiny
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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
26 / 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

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

Low Friction

Confined strictly to internal federal jurisdiction, federal property, or direct military command.

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

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%).
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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
387
2,285 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
13.8
College Level
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

EFFECTIVE DATES OF AWARDS OF DISABILITY AND DEATH PENSIONS; PROVISIONS FOR FILING CLAIMS; REVIEW OF PRESUMPTIVE CLAIMS BY SPECIAL REVIEW BOARDS By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me under section 9 of title I of the act of March 20, 1933, 48 Stat. 10, as amended by section 32 of the act of March 28, 1934, 48 Stat. 526 (38 U.S.C. 709), the following regulation amending Veterans Regulation No. 2 (a), as amended, is hereby prescribed: 1. Paragraph I of Part I of Veterans Regulation No. 2 (a) is hereby amended to read as follows: "I. The effective date of an award of pension shall be as follows: "(a) The effective date of an award of pension shall be fixed in accordance with the facts found, except that: "(1) No award of disability or death pension shall be effective prior to the date of the veteran's separation from service, date of the veteran's death, date of the happening of the contingency upon which disability or death pension is allowed, or the date of receipt of application therefor, whichever is the later date. "(2) In the event the claimant's application is not complete at the time of original submission, the Veteran's Administration will notify the claimant of the evidence necessary to complete the application and if such evidence is not received within one year from the date of request therefor, pension may not be paid by virtue of that application. "(3) Where a claim has been finally disallowed, a subsequent claim on the same factual basis, if supported by new and material evidence, shall have the attributes of a new claim, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph II, Part II of Veterans Regulation No. 2-Series." 2. Paragraph IV, subparagraph (b) of Part I of Veterans Regulation No. 2 (a) is hereby amended to read as follows: "(b) Pension to a dependent mother or father shall continue during dependency until death or remarriage of the mother or father, whether the dependency arises prior or subsequent to the death of the veteran, provided, however, that when pension or compensation is properly discontinued by reason of remarriage it shall not thereafter be recommenced." 3. This regulation shall be effective as of the date of its promulgation. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, March 19, 1935. Done in triplicate.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 6990 (Mar. 19, 1935), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6990-veterans-regulation-no-2-d.