By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the act of August 30, 1937 (Public No. 409, 75th Congress), providing for a census of partial employment, unemployment, and occupations, I hereby designate as Administrator thereof John D. Biggets and delegate to him the following functions and duties: 1. The Administrator, as the administering agency, is authorized and directed to conduct the said census and upon completion thereof to issue a report of findings. 2. The Administrator is authorized to appoint, as temporary employees, and fix the compensation, without regard to the Classification Act of 1923, as amended, of such officers, agents, and other personnel, and to make such other expenditures as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of said act of August 30, 1937, including purchase of materials, supplies, and office equipment, newspapers, periodicals and press clippings, printing and binding, communication services, travel, rent at the seat of Government and elsewhere, contract stenographic reporting services, special messenger service, mimeographing and other duplicating services, rental or purchase of machines and labor saving devices. To meet the expenses of conducting the said census, allocations will be made, pursuant to the provisions of section 3 of the said act of August 30, 1937, in a total amount not exceeding $5,000,000 from the appropriation contained in the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1937. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, September 22, 1937.
Executive Order 7711—Designating John D. Biggers Administrator of an Unemployment Census
Executive Brief • At a Glance
I hereby designate as Administrator thereof John D. Biggets and delegate to him the following functions and duties: 1.
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 September 22, 1937, this order concerns Designating John D. Biggers Administrator of an Unemployment Census. I hereby designate as Administrator thereof John D. Biggets and delegate to him the following functions and duties: 1. The Administrator, as the administering agency, is authorized and directed to conduct the said census and upon completion thereof to issue a report of findings. 2.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
I hereby designate as Administrator thereof John D. Biggets and delegate to him the following functions and duties: 1.
The Administrator, as the administering agency, is authorized and directed to conduct the said census and upon completion thereof to issue a report of findings. 2.
The Administrator is authorized to appoint, as temporary employees, and fix the compensation, without regard to the Classification Act of 1923, as amended, of such officers, agents, and other personnel, and to make such other expenditures as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of said act of August 30, 1937, including purchase of materials, supplies, and office equipment, newspapers, periodicals and press clippings, printing and binding, communication services, travel, rent at the seat of Government and elsewhere, contract stenographic reporting services, special messenger service, mimeographing and other duplicating services, rental or purchase of machines and labor saving devices.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
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.
"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."
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.
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.
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.
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Touches upon core congressional prerogatives: raises appropriations reallocation, tariff imposition, or statutory preemption questions.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Confined strictly to internal federal jurisdiction, federal property, or direct military command.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 7711 (Sept. 22, 1937), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7711-designating-john-d-biggers-administrator-unemployment-census.