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Executive Order 7064 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process

Executive Order 7064—Continuing the Powers of the Administrator of Public Works under N.I.R.A.

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Friday, June 7, 1935
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1 min read (297 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 1 min read (297 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

I hereby authorize the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, under the Federal Emergency Administrator of Public Works: (a) to continue after June 16, 1935, to perform all of the functions which it was authorized to perform prior to June 16, 1935, under Title II of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933 (48 Stat. 300); (b) subject to the rules and regulations heretofore and hereafter prescribed by the President to carry out the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, approved April 8, 1935, to perform the following functions under said Act: (1) make loans or grants, or both, for projects of States, territories, possessions, including subdivisions and agencies thereof, municipalities and the District…

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners

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 7, 1935, this order concerns Continuing the Powers of the Administrator of Public Works under N.I.R.A. I hereby authorize the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, under the Federal Emergency Administrator of Public Works: (a) to continue after June 16, 1935, to perform all of the functions which it was authorized to perform prior to June 16, 1935, under Title II of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933 (48 Stat. 300); (b) subject to the rules and regulations heretofore and…

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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I hereby authorize the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, under the Federal Emergency Administrator of Public Works: (a) to continue after June 16, 1935, to perform all of the functions which it was authorized to perform prior to June 16, 1935, under Title II of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933 (48 Stat. 300); (b) subject to the rules and regulations heretofore and hereafter prescribed by the President to carry out the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, approved April 8, 1935, to perform the following functions under said Act: (1) make loans or grants, or both, for projects of States, territories, possessions, including subdivisions and agencies thereof, municipalities and the District…

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In the performance of the functions and duties herein prescribed . . .

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I hereby authorize the Administrator to accept and utilize such voluntary and uncompensated services and, with the consent of the State, such State and local officers and employees, and appoint, without regard to the provisions of the civil service laws, such officers and employees, as may be necessary, prescribe their duties and responsibilities and, without regard to the Classification Act of 1923, as amended, fix their compensation: Provided, That in so far as practicable, the persons employed shall be selected from those receiving relief. . . .

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions
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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
43 / 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

Moderate Friction

Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.

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

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
297
1,868 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
27.8
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

Pursuant to the authority vested in me by the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, approved April 8, 1935 (Public Resolution No. 11, 74th Congress), I hereby authorize the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, under the Federal Emergency Administrator of Public Works: (a) to continue after June 16, 1935, to perform all of the functions which it was authorized to perform prior to June 16, 1935, under Title II of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933 (48 Stat. 300); (b) subject to the rules and regulations heretofore and hereafter prescribed by the President to carry out the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, approved April 8, 1935, to perform the following functions under said Act: (1) make loans or grants, or both, for projects of States, territories, possessions, including subdivisions and agencies thereof, municipalities and the District of Columbia, and self-liquidating projects of public bodies thereof, where, in the determination of the President, not less than twenty-five per centum of the loan or the grant, or the aggregate thereof, is to be expended for work under each particular project; (2) carry out projects for slum-clearance or low-cost housing, or both. . . . In the performance of the functions and duties herein prescribed . . . I hereby authorize the Administrator to accept and utilize such voluntary and uncompensated services and, with the consent of the State, such State and local officers and employees, and appoint, without regard to the provisions of the civil service laws, such officers and employees, as may be necessary, prescribe their duties and responsibilities and, without regard to the Classification Act of 1923, as amended, fix their compensation: Provided, That in so far as practicable, the persons employed shall be selected from those receiving relief. . . .

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 7064 (June 7, 1935), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7064-continuing-the-powers-the-administrator-public-works-under-nira.