Whereas the Committee on Interstate Commerce, United States Senate, or any duly authorized subcommittee thereof, is authorized and directed by Senate Resolution No. 71, 74th Congress, agreed to May 20, 1935, to make an investigation of the "financing, reorganizations, mergers, acquisitions and dispositions, insolvency, credit and securities operations and activities, financial policies, intercorporate relationships in respect of interstate railroads, railroad holding companies, railroad affiliates, and subsidiaries-any corporation or person which is or has been affiliated with any of the foregoing, banking, legal, engineering, accounting, and other professional corporations, persons, or groups occupying a fiduciary or contractual position or relation with any of the foregoing, and any member of the family of any such person, and any officer, agent, or director of any such corporation or group;" and Whereas the said Committee on Interstate Commerce, or any duly authorized subcommittee thereof, is authorized and directed to obtain facts from and to secure the assistance of executive departments and other governmental agencies: Now, Therefore , as President of the United States, I hereby request the executive departments and all other agencies of the Government to cooperate with and render assistance to the said Committee on Interstate Commerce, or any duly authorized subcommittee thereof, by giving to such Committee or subcommittee, so far as the public interest will permit, access to pertinent records, papers, and information in their possession and by making available to said Committee or subcommittee, so far as reasonably possible without interfering with the ordinary business of any department or other agency of the Government, the knowledge and advice of their experts. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, August 19, 1935.
Executive Order 7149 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
Executive Order 7149—Requesting Executive Departments and Other Agencies of the Government to Cooperate With the Committee on Interstate Commerce, United States Senate, in Its Investigation Pursuant to Senate Resolution No. 71, 74th Congress
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (271 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
As President of the United States, I hereby request the executive departments and all other agencies of the Government to cooperate with and render assistance to the said Committee on Interstate Commerce, or any duly authorized subcommittee thereof, by giving to such Committee or subcommittee, so far as the public interest will permit, access to pertinent records, papers, and information in their possession and by making available to said Committee or subcommittee, so far as reasonably possible without interfering with the ordinary business of any department or other agency of the Government, the knowledge and advice of their experts.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 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 August 19, 1935, this order concerns Requesting Executive Departments and Other Agencies of the Government to Cooperate With the Committee on Interstate Commerce, United States Senate, in Its Investigation Pursuant to Senate Resolution No. 71, 74th Congress. As President of the United States, I hereby request the executive departments and all other agencies of the Government to cooperate with and render assistance to the said Committee on Interstate Commerce, or any duly authorized subcommittee thereof, by giving to such Committee or subcommittee, so far as the public interest will permit, access to pertinent records, papers, and information in their possession and by…
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
▪
As President of the United States, I hereby request the executive departments and all other agencies of the Government to cooperate with and render assistance to the said Committee on Interstate Commerce, or any duly authorized subcommittee thereof, by giving to such Committee or subcommittee, so far as the public interest will permit, access to pertinent records, papers, and information in their possession and by making available to said Committee or subcommittee, so far as reasonably possible without interfering with the ordinary business of any department or other agency of the Government, the knowledge and advice of their experts.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
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 1 (Maximum Authority)
§
"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."
— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM
James Madison
Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy
"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)
Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.
Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
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: Supportive of Execution
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
32 / 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
Moderate Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.
Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment
Moderate Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
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
Moderate Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
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
Low Friction
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.
Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️
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
271
1,858 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
42.9
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
Other executive actions signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt around this period.
EO 7150 Aug 19, 1935
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7150—Placing Additional Agencies under the Supervision of the Bureau of the Budget
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive order No. 7126 of August 5, 1935, entitled "Submission to the Bureau of the Budget of Estimates of Expenditures for Administrative Expenses in Certain Cases," is hereby amended so as to make its provisions applicable in all respects to the following-named additional…
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
EO 7148 Aug 19, 1935
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7148—Establishing Medicine Lake Migratory Waterfowl Refuge
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The following-described lands, acquired or to be acquired by the United States, in Sheridan and Roosevelt Counties, Montana, consisting of 23,700 acres, more or less, be, and they are hereby, reserved and set apart for the use of the Department of Agriculture, subject to valid…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 3 • 3m
EO 7147 Aug 19, 1935
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7147—Revocation in Part of Executive Order No. 5165, of July 26, 1929, Withdrawing Public Lands
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order No. 5165, of July 26, 1929, withdrawing, with other lands, public lands in Tps. 3 and 4 S., R. 87 W. of the sixth principal meridian, Colorado, pending a resurvey, is hereby revoked as to said townships, this revocation to become effective upon the date of the…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 6 • 1m
EO 7146 Aug 19, 1935
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7146—Modification of Executive Order No. 6910, of November 26, 1934, as Amended by Executive Order No. 7048, of May 20, 1935, Withdrawing Public Lands in Certain States
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order No. 6910, of November 26, 1934, as amended by Executive Order No. 7048, of May 20, 1935, temporarily withdrawing all public land in certain States for classification and other purposes, be, and it is hereby, modified to the extent of authorizing the Secretary of…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 8 • 2m
EO 7145 Aug 19, 1935
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7145—Excluding Certain Tracts of Land From Tongass National Forest and Restoring Them to Entry
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The following-described tracts of land in Alaska, occupied as homesites and identified by elimination surveys, plats and field notes of which are on file in the General Land Office, Washington, D.C., be, and they are hereby, excluded from the Tongass National Forest and…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 8 • 1m
EO 7144 Aug 19, 1935
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7144—Exclusion of Land From the Tongass National Forest
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
The tract of land on Chichagof Island, Alaska, lying within the following-described boundaries and occupied as an Indian settlement be, and it is hereby, excluded from the Tongass National Forest: Chs.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 7 • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 7149 (Aug. 19, 1935), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7149-requesting-executive-departments-and-other-agencies-the-government.
