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Executive Order 7909 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 7909—Terminating the Powers, Rights, and Duties of the Special Mexican Claims Commission

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Wednesday, June 15, 1938
•
1 min read (241 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 1 min read (241 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

I hereby terminate as of this date all powers, rights, and duties conferred upon the said Special Mexican Claims Commission by the said act of April 10, 1935, as amended by the said resolution of August 25, 1937.

⚖️ 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 Private Citizens & Property Owners

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 June 15, 1938, this order concerns Terminating the Powers, Rights, and Duties of the Special Mexican Claims Commission. I hereby terminate as of this date all powers, rights, and duties conferred upon the said Special Mexican Claims Commission by the said act of April 10, 1935, as amended by the said resolution of August 25, 1937.

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

▪

I hereby terminate as of this date all powers, rights, and duties conferred upon the said Special Mexican Claims Commission by the said act of April 10, 1935, as amended by the said resolution of August 25, 1937.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

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)
§

"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.

🛡️ High Constitutional Concordance
23 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Low Friction

Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.

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 in close harmony with statutory authority and standard Article II supervisory execution.

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
241
1,356 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
25.5
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

Whereas section 6 of the act approved April 10, 1935, 49 Stat. 149, as amended by section 5 of the public resolution approved August 25, 1937, 50 Stat. 783, provides that the Special Mexican Claims Commission, created in pursuance of that act, shall complete its work within three years from the date on which it undertakes the performance of its duties; and Whereas the three-year period so fixed for the completion of the work of the said Commission will expire on August 31, 1938; and Whereas section 6 of the said act, as amended, also provides that if the President shall find that the Commission has completed its work prior to the expiration of the period so fixed, he may by Executive order terminate all powers, rights, and duties of the Commission; and Whereas the Special Mexican Claims Commission has reported to the Secretary of State the completion of its work, and I find that the Commission has completed its work prior to the expiration of the period so fixed: Now, Therefore , by virtue of the power vested in me by section 6 of the said act of April 10, 1935, as amended, I hereby terminate as of this date all powers, rights, and duties conferred upon the said Special Mexican Claims Commission by the said act of April 10, 1935, as amended by the said resolution of August 25, 1937. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, June 15, 1938.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 7909 (June 15, 1938), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7909-terminating-the-powers-rights-and-duties-the-special-mexican-claims.