By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by section 1753 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (U.S.C., title 5, sec. 631), and as President of the United States, the Executive Order of January 17, 1873, as amended, prohibiting, with certain exceptions, Federal officers and employees from holding state, territorial, and municipal offices, is hereby further amended so as (1) to permit officers and employees of the Department of the Interior, upon approval of the Secretary of the Interior, to hold office under state, territorial, and municipal governments engaged in cooperative and related work with the Department of the Interior, as authorized by Federal and state laws: Provided , that the services to be performed by them shall pertain to such work and shall not in any manner interfere or conflict with the performance of their duties as officers or employees of the Federal Government; and (2) to permit state, territorial, and municipal officers or employees engaged in cooperative and related work with the Department of the Interior, unless prohibited by law, to accept appointment in and serve under the Department of the Interior when the Secretary of the Interior deems such employment necessary to secure a more efficient administration of the said work: Provided , that the appointment of any such officer or employee to a position subject to the civil-service laws in the Department of the Interior shall be made in accordance with civil-service laws, rules, and regulations. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, January 21, 1938.
Executive Order 7796 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Executive Order 7796—Amending Executive Order of January 17, 1873, to Permit Certain Employees of Department of the Interior to Hold State, Territorial, and Municipal Offices, etc.
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (254 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
The Executive Order of January 17, 1873, as amended, prohibiting, with certain exceptions, Federal officers and employees from holding state, territorial, and municipal offices, is hereby further amended so as (1) to permit officers and employees of the Department of the Interior, upon approval of the Secretary of the Interior, to hold office under state, territorial, and municipal governments engaged in cooperative and related work with the Department of the Interior, as authorized by Federal and state laws: Provided , that the services to be performed by them shall pertain to such work and shall not in any manner interfere or conflict with the performance of their duties as officers or employees of the Federal Government; and (2) to…
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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 January 21, 1938, this order concerns Amending Executive Order of January 17, 1873, to Permit Certain Employees of Department of the Interior to Hold State, Territorial, and Municipal Offices, etc. The Executive Order of January 17, 1873, as amended, prohibiting, with certain exceptions, Federal officers and employees from holding state, territorial, and municipal offices, is hereby further amended so as (1) to permit officers and employees of the Department of the Interior, upon approval of the Secretary of the Interior, to hold office under state, territorial, and municipal governments engaged in…
Constitutional Assessment: Reviewed under the Tenth Amendment and the principle of dual federalism, this order touches upon domains traditionally reserved to the sovereign States. The Framers would caution against any attempt to commandeer state officers or displace local police powers through federal executive fiat.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
▪
The Executive Order of January 17, 1873, as amended, prohibiting, with certain exceptions, Federal officers and employees from holding state, territorial, and municipal offices, is hereby further amended so as (1) to permit officers and employees of the Department of the Interior, upon approval of the Secretary of the Interior, to hold office under state, territorial, and municipal governments engaged in cooperative and related work with the Department of the Interior, as authorized by Federal and state laws: Provided , that the services to be performed by them shall pertain to such work and shall not in any manner interfere or conflict with the performance of their duties as officers or employees of the Federal Government; and (2) to…
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises
🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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
"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.
Hamiltonian Stance: Supportive of Execution
GM
George Mason
Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." — 10th Amendment to the US Constitution (1791)
Mason would scrutinize whether this federal directive intrudes into police powers, land stewardship, or municipal domains historically reserved to local citizens. The Anti-Federalist demand is that federal administration must never supplant state self-governance.
Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
📐
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
35 / 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
Moderate Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.
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
254
1,574 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
30.4
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
Other executive actions signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt around this period.
EO 7795 Jan 21, 1938
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7795—Establishing the Huron Migratory Bird Refuge
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
The islands, surveyed and unsurveyed, of the Huron Islands group, lying near the south shore of Lake Superior and situated in sections 27 to 29, inclusive, and sections 34 and 35, T. 53 N., R. 29 W., Michigan Meridian, comprising approximately 147 acres, as shown on the diagram…
Franklin D. Roosevelt College Level • 2m
EO 7794 Jan 20, 1938
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7794—Correcting Description of Parcel of Land Contained in Executive Order No. 6050 of February 27, 1933
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
The description of the said Parcel One as contained in the said Executive Order No. 6050 of February 27, 1933, be, and it is hereby, corrected to read as follows: PARCEL ONE Beginning at corner No. 7 of United States Survey No. 1762, Juneau Elimination Boundary (unapproved)…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 8 • 2m
EO 7793 Jan 20, 1938
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7793—Partial Revocation of Executive Order No. 6644 of March 14, 1934, Withdrawing Public Lands
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
COLORADO By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the act of June 25, 1910, ch. 421, 36 Stat. 847, as amended by the act of August 24, 1912, ch. 369, 37 Stat. 497, Executive Order No. 6644 of March 14, 1934, withdrawing public lands in Colorado pending a…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 7 • 1m
EO 7792 Jan 18, 1938
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7792—Transfer of Jurisdiction Over Certain Lands from the Secretary of Agriculture to the Secretary of the Interior
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Jurisdiction over the hereinafter-described lands, together with the improvements thereon, acquired or in the process of acquisition by the United States in connection with the hereinafter-designated projects, be, and it is hereby, transferred from the Secretary of Agriculture…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 6 • 16m
EO 7798 Jan 26, 1938
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7798—Transferring a Portion of the Boise Barracks Military Reservation, Idaho, to the Control and Jurisdiction of the Veteran's Administration
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
The following-described portion of the Boise Barracks Military Reservation located in township 3 north, range 2 east, of Boise meridian, County of Ada, State of Idaho, be, and it is hereby, transferred from the control and jurisdiction of the War Department to the control and…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 8 • 2m
EO 7797 Jan 26, 1938
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 7797—Documents Required of Bona Fide Alien Seamen Entering the United States
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
I hereby prescribe the following regulations governing the entry of alien seamen into the United States: I Seamen whose occupational status as such is found to be bona fide, entering the ports of the United States solely in the pursuit of their calling as seamen, may be…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 3m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 7796 (Jan. 21, 1938), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7796-amending-executive-order-january-17-1873-permit-certain-employees.
