Whereas the Executive Committee on Commercial Policy was established by the letter of November 11, 1933, from the President to the Secretary of State and continued by Executive Order No. 6656 of March 27, 1934; and Whereas it is desired more precisely to define the membership of the said Executive Committee on Commercial Policy: Now, Therefore , by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered that: 1. The permanent membership of the said Executive Committee on Commercial Policy shall be composed of representatives of each of the following member departments and agencies: The Department of State. The Department of the Treasury. The Department of Agriculture. The Department of Commerce. The United States Tariff Commission. The Agricultural Adjustment Administration. The said Committee may, with the approval of the President, from time to time add representatives of other governmental departments or agencies to its membership for such periods and purposes and with such rights and privileges as to the Committee seem desirable. 2. The Chairman of the said Committee shall be a representative of the Department of State who shall be appointed by the Secretary of State. The representatives of the member departments and agencies shall be designated by the respective heads of such departments and agencies. 3. The Committee shall continue to exercise its present functions for the purpose of coordinating the commercial policy of the United States. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, December 31, 1935.
Executive Order 7260 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Executive Order 7260—Continuing the Functions of the Executive Committee on Commercial Policy and Defining Its Membership
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (246 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
The permanent membership of the said Executive Committee on Commercial Policy shall be composed of representatives of each of the following member departments and agencies: The Department of State.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 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 December 31, 1935, this order concerns Continuing the Functions of the Executive Committee on Commercial Policy and Defining Its Membership. 1. The permanent membership of the said Executive Committee on Commercial Policy shall be composed of representatives of each of the following member departments and agencies: The Department of State. The Department of the Treasury. The Department of Agriculture. The Department of Commerce. The United States Tariff Commission. The Agricultural Adjustment Administration.
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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The permanent membership of the said Executive Committee on Commercial Policy shall be composed of representatives of each of the following member departments and agencies: The Department of State.
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The Chairman of the said Committee shall be a representative of the Department of State who shall be appointed by the Secretary of State.
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The representatives of the member departments and agencies shall be designated by the respective heads of such departments and agencies. 3.
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The Committee shall continue to exercise its present functions for the purpose of coordinating the commercial policy of the United States.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises
🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
🏛️ 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
"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
31 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8
Moderate Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
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
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
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
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
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
246
1,564 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
13
College Level
Text size:
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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1944-08-07
Related Executive Orders
1 order cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 6656 Mar 27, 1934
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6656—Continuing the Functions of the Executive Committee on Commercial Policy
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
The said Executive Committee on Commercial Policy as established by the letter of November 11, 1933, from the President to the Secretary of State shall continue to exercise its present functions for the purpose of coordinating the commercial policy of the United States.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 7261 Dec 31, 1935
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7261—Postponement of Effective Date of Certain Provisions of Executive Order No. 6166 of June 10, 1933
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Except as hereinafter provided, the transfers, consolidations, and eliminations contemplated by section 4 of Executive Order No. 6166 of June 10, 1933, as amended, which are not effected prior to December 31, 1935, pursuant to Executive Order No. 6224 of July 27, 1933…
Franklin D. Roosevelt College Level • 1m
EO 7261 Dec 31, 1935
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Fidelity (+0.47)
Executive Order 7261-A—Amendment to the Instructions to Diplomatic Officers of the United States
📜 Art. II §2: Diplomatic & Foreign Policy Prerogative
The following section is added to Chapter XVI of the Instructions to Diplomatic Officers of the United States: XVI-21. Hostesses in missions In the absence of the wife of the head of a diplomatic mission, only the daughter, mother, or sister of the head of the mission or the…
Franklin D. Roosevelt College Level • 1m
EO 7259 Dec 28, 1935
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7259—Authorizing the Appointment of Frank P. Fallowfield to a Position as Engineer in the Office of the Chief of Engineers, War Department, Without Regard to Civil-Service Rules
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Frank P. Fallowfield may be appointed to a position as engineer in the Office of the Chief of Engineers, War Department, without compliance with the requirements of the civil-service rules and without being accorded a classified status.
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
EO 7258 Dec 28, 1935
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7258—Exemption of Irvin P. Disney from Compulsory Retirement for Age
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Exempt Irvin P. Disney from the provisions thereof and continue him in the service until April 1, 1936.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 7266 Jan 4, 1936
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7266—Modification of Executive Order No. 6910, of November 26, 1934, as Amended, Withdrawing Public Lands in Certain States, Wyoming
📜 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 lands in certain States for classification and other purposes, be, and it is hereby, modified to the extent necessary to enable the…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 8 • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 7260 (Dec. 31, 1935), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7260-continuing-the-functions-the-executive-committee-commercial-policy.
