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Executive Order 7766 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution

Executive Order 7766—Amendment of Executive Order No. 6928 of December 24, 1934, as Amended

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Friday, December 10, 1937
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2 min read (495 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (495 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

In case the currency in circulation in a particular province or distinct portion of a foreign country is different from the currency in circulation elsewhere in that country, for which a basic rate is herein prescribed, the exchange losses for such portion of the country may nevertheless be computed upon the basic rate prescribed for the country as a whole.

⚖️ 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 Foreign Nations & International Entities 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 10, 1937, this order concerns Amendment of Executive Order No. 6928 of December 24, 1934, as Amended. By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the act of March 26, 1934, ch. 87, 48 Stat. 466, as amended by the act of August 14, 1937, Public No. 287—75th Congress, paragraphs (d) and (e) of section 3 of Executive Order No. 6928 of December 24, 1934, as amended by Executive Order No. 7312 of March 9, 1936, prescribing regulations for payment of losses sustained by officers, enlisted men, and…

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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In case the currency in circulation in a particular province or distinct portion of a foreign country is different from the currency in circulation elsewhere in that country, for which a basic rate is herein prescribed, the exchange losses for such portion of the country may nevertheless be computed upon the basic rate prescribed for the country as a whole.

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"(e) In case of employees employed in or on assignment or detail to posts in countries having local laws and regulations preventing or limiting, subsequent to April 1, 1934, conversion of local currency into foreign exchange, their net salary and net allowances while they are at their post of duty in such country may be converted in a country other than that in which they are stationed and the losses so sustained since April 1, 1934, or hereafter sustained thereon, shall be reimbursed, but in no case in an amount greater than would have been reimbursable had the net salary and net allowances been converted at the post of duty: Provided, that if in any country having such laws and regulations, the rate at which foreign currencies may be…

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities 🏛️ 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
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
495
2,855 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
22.6
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 act of March 26, 1934, ch. 87, 48 Stat. 466, as amended by the act of August 14, 1937, Public No. 287—75th Congress, paragraphs (d) and (e) of section 3 of Executive Order No. 6928 of December 24, 1934, as amended by Executive Order No. 7312 of March 9, 1936, prescribing regulations for payment of losses sustained by officers, enlisted men, and employees of the United States in foreign countries on account of appreciation of foreign currencies in their relation to the American dollar, are hereby amended to read as follows: "(d) In case of a foreign country in which the loss cannot be calculated on the basis of conversion into the currency of that country but, in consequence of local law or regulation, is required to be calculated on the basis of the appreciation in relation to the dollar of a noncirculating monetary unit in which prices of commodities and services are quoted but not payable—the dollar itself being used in payment therefor— the loss is authorized to be computed on that basis. In case the currency in circulation in a particular province or distinct portion of a foreign country is different from the currency in circulation elsewhere in that country, for which a basic rate is herein prescribed, the exchange losses for such portion of the country may nevertheless be computed upon the basic rate prescribed for the country as a whole. "(e) In case of employees employed in or on assignment or detail to posts in countries having local laws and regulations preventing or limiting, subsequent to April 1, 1934, conversion of local currency into foreign exchange, their net salary and net allowances while they are at their post of duty in such country may be converted in a country other than that in which they are stationed and the losses so sustained since April 1, 1934, or hereafter sustained thereon, shall be reimbursed, but in no case in an amount greater than would have been reimbursable had the net salary and net allowances been converted at the post of duty: Provided, that if in any country having such laws and regulations, the rate at which foreign currencies may be exchanged into the local currency is fixed on the basis of the currency of a third country, the appreciation loss on net salary and net allowances, regardless of conversion, may be reimbursed in an amount that would have been reimbursable had net salary and net allowances been converted in the third country the currency of which is used as the basis for the rate at which foreign currencies may be exchanged into the currency of the country in which stationed." The foregoing amendment of section 3 (d) shall be effective as of July 1, 1933, and the amendment of section 3 (e) shall be effective as of February 1, 1936. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, December 10, 1937.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 7766 (Dec. 10, 1937), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7766-amendment-executive-order-no-6928-december-24-1934-amended.