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Executive Order 7481 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution

Executive Order 7481—Interdepartmental Committee to Coordinate Health and Welfare Activities

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt
•
Tuesday, October 27, 1936
•
1 min read (205 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 1 min read (205 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

I hereby designate the following as members of the Interdepartmental Committee to Coordinate Health and Welfare Activities: Josephine Roche, Chairman, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

View all 3 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Public Health & Medical Institutions Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
Inspect unabridged text ↓

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 October 27, 1936, this order concerns Interdepartmental Committee to Coordinate Health and Welfare Activities. I hereby designate the following as members of the Interdepartmental Committee to Coordinate Health and Welfare Activities: Josephine Roche, Chairman, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. Arthur J. Altmeyer, Member of the Social Security Board. Oscar L. Chapman, Assistant Secretary of the Interior. Milburn L. Wilson, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture. Edward F. McGrady, Assistant Secretary of Labor.

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 designate the following as members of the Interdepartmental Committee to Coordinate Health and Welfare Activities: Josephine Roche, Chairman, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

▪

It shall be the duty of this Committee (1) to continue to sponsor appropriate cooperative working agreements among the various agencies of the Government in the health and welfare field, and to continue the work under agreements already in effect, and (2) to study and make recommendations concerning specific aspects of the health and welfare activities of the Government looking toward a more nearly complete coordination of the activities of the Government in these fields.

▪

The Committee will continue to function through the special technical committees it has set up from time to time, and will designate additional committees to deal with new problems.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Public Health & Medical Institutions 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Labor & Employment
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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)
§

"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

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

Low Friction

Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.

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
205
1,326 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
16.4
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 as President of the United States, and in order to provide for the better coordination of the health and welfare activities of the Federal Government, I hereby designate the following as members of the Interdepartmental Committee to Coordinate Health and Welfare Activities: Josephine Roche, Chairman, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. Arthur J. Altmeyer, Member of the Social Security Board. Oscar L. Chapman, Assistant Secretary of the Interior. Milburn L. Wilson, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture. Edward F. McGrady, Assistant Secretary of Labor. It shall be the duty of this Committee (1) to continue to sponsor appropriate cooperative working agreements among the various agencies of the Government in the health and welfare field, and to continue the work under agreements already in effect, and (2) to study and make recommendations concerning specific aspects of the health and welfare activities of the Government looking toward a more nearly complete coordination of the activities of the Government in these fields. The Committee will continue to function through the special technical committees it has set up from time to time, and will designate additional committees to deal with new problems. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, October 27, 1936.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (3)

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

Amends Executive Order 7990—Designating Aubrey Williams as Member of Interdepartmental Committee to Coordinate Health and Welfare Activities
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1938-10-19
References Executive Order 7987—Designating Dr. Thomas Parran as Member of Interdepartmental Committee to Coordinate Health and Welfare Activities
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1938-10-11
References Executive Order 7851—Designation of Charles V. McLaughlin as Member of Interdepartmental Committee To Coordinate Health and Welfare Activities
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1938-03-26
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 7481 (Oct. 27, 1936), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7481-interdepartmental-committee-coordinate-health-and-welfare-activities.