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Executive Order 7025 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations

Executive Order 7025-A—Supplementary Code of Fair Competition for the Heavy Construction and Railroad Contractors Subdivision of the General Contractors Division of the Construction Industry

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt
•
Monday, April 29, 1935
•
2 min read (423 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (423 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

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 adopt and approve the report, recommendations, and findings of the National Industrial Recovery Board and do order that the said Subchapter II-B be and it is hereby approved, and that the previous approval of said Code of Fair Competition for the Construction Industry is hereby amended to include an approval of said Code in its entirety as supplemented by said Subchapter II-B: Provided, However , that the operation of Section 6, Mutual Agreements, of Article III, may be reviewed by the National Industrial Recovery Board within sixty (60) days after…

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⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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 29, 1935, this order concerns Supplementary Code of Fair Competition for the Heavy Construction and Railroad Contractors Subdivision of the General Contractors Division of the Construction Industry. 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 adopt and approve the report, recommendations, and findings of the National Industrial Recovery Board and do order that the said Subchapter II-B be and it is hereby approved, and that the previous approval of said Code of Fair…

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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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 adopt and approve the report, recommendations, and findings of the National Industrial Recovery Board and do order that the said Subchapter II-B be and it is hereby approved, and that the previous approval of said Code of Fair Competition for the Construction Industry is hereby amended to include an approval of said Code in its entirety as supplemented by said Subchapter II-B: Provided, However , that the operation of Section 6, Mutual Agreements, of Article III, may be reviewed by the National Industrial Recovery Board within sixty (60) days after…

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Infrastructure & Transportation
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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 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.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
34 / 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

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%).
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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
423
2,603 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
45.9
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

A SUBDIVISION OF THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY An application having been duly made, pursuant to and in full compliance with the provisions of Title I of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933, and pursuant to and in full compliance with the provisions of Section 5 of Article VIII of Chapter I, approved January 31, 1934, and pursuant to and in full compliance with the provisions of Section 2 of Article I of Chapter II, approved February 17, 1934, of the Code of Fair Competition for the Construction Industry, for approval of Subchapter II-B of Chapter II of said Code, which Subchapter is applicable to the Heavy Construction and Railroad Contractors Subdivision of the General Contractors Division of the Construction Industry, and hearings having been held thereon, and the National Industrial Recovery Board having rendered its report containing an analysis of said Subchapter II-B and of said Code of Fair Competition as amended by the addition thereto of said Subchapter II-B, together with its recommendations and findings with respect thereto, and the National Industrial Recovery Board having found that the said Subchapter II-B and the said Code of Fair Competition, as amended by the addition thereto of said Subchapter II-B, complies in all respects with the pertinent provisions of Title I of said Act, and that the requirements of clauses (1) and (2) of subsection (a) of Section 3 of the said Act have been met: Now, Therefore, 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 adopt and approve the report, recommendations, and findings of the National Industrial Recovery Board and do order that the said Subchapter II-B be and it is hereby approved, and that the previous approval of said Code of Fair Competition for the Construction Industry is hereby amended to include an approval of said Code in its entirety as supplemented by said Subchapter II-B: Provided, However , that the operation of Section 6, Mutual Agreements, of Article III, may be reviewed by the National Industrial Recovery Board within sixty (60) days after the effective date of this Subchapter II-B and if upon a finding that the said Section 6 unfairly interferes in any respect, with the process or freedom of collective bargaining, said Section 6 be immediately stayed pending my further order. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT Approval Recommended: National Industrial Recovery Board By: L. C. Marshall Executive Secretary The White House April 29, 1935.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 7025 (Apr. 29, 1935), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7025-supplementary-code-fair-competition-for-the-heavy-construction-and.