By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me under the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, approved April 8, 1935 (Public Resolution No. 11, 74th Cong.), I hereby appoint Perry R. Taylor, of Pennsylvania, as Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Administration established by Executive Order No. 7037, of May 11, 1935. The said Executive Officer shall exercise and perform the functions and duties prescribed for the Rural Electrification Administration in the said Executive order pending the appointment of the Administrator of the said Administration by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. This appointment shall terminate upon the appointment and qualification of the Administrator. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, May 15, 1935.
Executive Order 7040 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order 7040—Appointment of Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Administration
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (119 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
I hereby appoint Perry R. Taylor, of Pennsylvania, as Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Administration established by Executive Order No. 7037, of May 11, 1935.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 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 May 15, 1935, this order concerns Appointment of Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Administration. I hereby appoint Perry R. Taylor, of Pennsylvania, as Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Administration established by Executive Order No. 7037, of May 11, 1935. The said Executive Officer shall exercise and perform the functions and duties prescribed for the Rural Electrification Administration in the said Executive order pending the appointment of the Administrator of the said Administration by 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
▪
I hereby appoint Perry R. Taylor, of Pennsylvania, as Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Administration established by Executive Order No. 7037, of May 11, 1935.
▪
The said Executive Officer shall exercise and perform the functions and duties prescribed for the Rural Electrification Administration in the said Executive order pending the appointment of the Administrator of the said Administration by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
▪
This appointment shall terminate upon the appointment and qualification of the Administrator.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises
🏛️ 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
"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
📐
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
Low Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
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
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
Low Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
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
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
119
778 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
12.6
High School
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
1 order cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 7037 May 11, 1935
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7037—Establishing the Rural Electrification Administration
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
I hereby establish an agency within the Government to be known as the "Rural Electrification Administration," the head thereof to be known as the Administrator.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 2m
EO 7045 May 15, 1935
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7045—Withdrawal of Public Lands
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order No. 6910, of November 26, 1934, temporarily withdrawing all vacant, unreserved, and unappropriated public lands in certain States for classification and other purposes, is hereby revoked as to the following-described tract of public land in California: MOUNT…
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 2m
EO 7044 May 15, 1935
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7044—Revocation of Executive Order No. 7004, of April 10, 1935, Changing Location of the Land Office for the Linkton Land District
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
OREGON Executive Order No. 7004, of April 10, 1935, changing the location of the land office for the Linkton land district in the State of Oregon from Lakeview to Klamath Falls, is hereby revoked.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 8 • 1m
EO 7043 May 15, 1935
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7043—Waiver of the Civil-Service Rules to Permit the Reinstatement of Mrs. Fern A. Black to a Clerical Position in the Los Angeles Post Office
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
The time limit specified by civil-service rule IX may be waived to permit the reinstatement of Mrs. Fern A. Black to a clerical position in the Los Angeles post office.
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
EO 7042 May 15, 1935
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7042—Exemption of Benjamin A. Omohundro From Compulsory Retirement for Age
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Exempt Benjamin A. Omohundro from the provisions thereof and continue him in the service until June 1, 1936.
Franklin D. Roosevelt College Level • 1m
EO 7041 May 15, 1935
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7041—Transferring Subsistence Homesteads Activities to the Resettlement Administration
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
I hereby: 1. Transfer from the Secretary of the Interior and such agents and agencies as he may have designated or set up pursuant to Executive Order No. 6209, of July 21, 1933, to the Resettlement Administration, established by Executive Order No. 7027, of April 30, 1935: (a)…
Franklin D. Roosevelt College Level • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 7040 (May 15, 1935), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7040-appointment-executive-officer-the-rural-electrification.
