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Executive Order 7151 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution

Executive Order 7151—Establishing a Revolving Fund for the Centralized Purchase of Materials, Supplies, and Equipment Under the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935

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Wednesday, August 21, 1935
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2 min read (413 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (413 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

There is hereby allocated to the Secretary of the Treasury from the appropriation made by the said Act, the sum of $3,000,000 to be set aside in a special fund in the Treasury Department to be known as the "Work Relief Supply Fund", for use in the purchase and distribution of materials, supplies, and equipment by the Secretary of the Treasury through the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department, pursuant to Section II (A) (2) of Executive Order No. 7034 dated May 6, 1935. 2.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners Public Health & Medical Institutions 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 21, 1935, this order concerns Establishing a Revolving Fund for the Centralized Purchase of Materials, Supplies, and Equipment Under the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935. There is hereby allocated to the Secretary of the Treasury from the appropriation made by the said Act, the sum of $3,000,000 to be set aside in a special fund in the Treasury Department to be known as the "Work Relief Supply Fund", for use in the purchase and distribution of materials, supplies, and equipment by the Secretary of the Treasury through the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department, pursuant to…

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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There is hereby allocated to the Secretary of the Treasury from the appropriation made by the said Act, the sum of $3,000,000 to be set aside in a special fund in the Treasury Department to be known as the "Work Relief Supply Fund", for use in the purchase and distribution of materials, supplies, and equipment by the Secretary of the Treasury through the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department, pursuant to Section II (A) (2) of Executive Order No. 7034 dated May 6, 1935. 2.

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Materials, supplies, and equipment purchased through use of the General Supply Fund, established by the act of February 27, 1929, 45 Stat. 1341, may be requisitioned by the Procurement Division for the purposes of the Work Relief Supply Fund and reimbursement therefor shall be made out of that Fund to the General Supply Fund.

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Such reimbursement shall be effected in the same manner as reimbursements made to the General Supply Fund out of any other appropriation, by transfer and counter-warrants prepared in the Procurement Division. 3.

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Each department, independent establishment, or other agency, requisitioning materials, supplies, or equipment from the Procurement Division shall make reimbursement for such materials, supplies, or equipment at prices fixed by the Director of Procurement with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, including transportation charges and overhead expenses.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

Policy Areas & Topics

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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 1 (Maximum Authority)
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"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

"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)

Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.

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
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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
45 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

High Friction

Touches upon core congressional prerogatives: raises appropriations reallocation, tariff imposition, or statutory preemption questions.

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

Low Friction

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%).
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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
413
2,570 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
17.3
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of and 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), it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. There is hereby allocated to the Secretary of the Treasury from the appropriation made by the said Act, the sum of $3,000,000 to be set aside in a special fund in the Treasury Department to be known as the "Work Relief Supply Fund", for use in the purchase and distribution of materials, supplies, and equipment by the Secretary of the Treasury through the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department, pursuant to Section II (A) (2) of Executive Order No. 7034 dated May 6, 1935. 2. Materials, supplies, and equipment purchased through use of the General Supply Fund, established by the act of February 27, 1929, 45 Stat. 1341, may be requisitioned by the Procurement Division for the purposes of the Work Relief Supply Fund and reimbursement therefor shall be made out of that Fund to the General Supply Fund. Such reimbursement shall be effected in the same manner as reimbursements made to the General Supply Fund out of any other appropriation, by transfer and counter-warrants prepared in the Procurement Division. 3. Each department, independent establishment, or other agency, requisitioning materials, supplies, or equipment from the Procurement Division shall make reimbursement for such materials, supplies, or equipment at prices fixed by the Director of Procurement with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, including transportation charges and overhead expenses. All such reimbursements shall be made by disbursing officer's checks, upon certified vouchers payable from the proper project allocation. Such reimbursements shall be credited to the Work Relief Supply Fund by repay covering warrants and are hereby reallocated for the purposes of the fund. 4. The Work Relief Supply Fund shall be subject to audit by the Comptroller General of the United States, and there shall be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts any surplus found therein, all assets and liabilities considered, above the amounts allocated to such fund. 5. Upon liquidation of such fund the net assets, not in excess of the amounts allocated to such fund from the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, shall be returned to the appropriation contained in the said Act, and the amount in excess thereof shall, upon liquidation of the fund, be covered into the surplus fund of the Treasury. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, August 21, 1935.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 7151 (Aug. 21, 1935), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7151-establishing-revolving-fund-for-the-centralized-purchase-materials.