By virtue of the authority vested in the President by section 5 (a) of the Trading with the Enemy Act, approved October 6, 1917 (40 Stat. 411, 415), as amended, the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928, approved March 10, 1928 (45 Stat. 254), and Public Resolution No. 53, approved June 27, 1934 (48 Stat. 1267), it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. All power and authority conferred upon the President by sections 9, 12, 20, and 21 of the said Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended, and all power and authority which the President under that Act has heretofore ordered to be exercised through the Alien Property Custodian, are hereby vested in and shall be exercised through the Attorney General or the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Claims Division in the Department of Justice. 2. All acts heretofore performed by the Attorney General and by the Department of Justice, under the supervision of the Attorney General, pertaining to the administration of the rights, privileges, duties, and powers conferred upon the Alien Property Custodian by Executive order and thereafter transferred to the Department of Justice, to be administered under the supervision of the Attorney General, by Executive Order No. 6694 of May 1, 1934, are hereby approved, confirmed, and ratified. 3. The first clause of section 3 of Executive Order No. 6981 of March 2, 1935, is hereby amended to read as follows: "For the purposes of this Executive order, (a) the nationality, residence, domicile, or other qualification of claimants under the Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended, shall be that determined by the Attorney General or the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Claims Division in the Department of Justice;" 4. All securities in which the Secretary of the Treasury has invested moneys deposited in the Treasury by the Alien Property Custodian or the Attorney General, as successor to the Alien Property Custodian, under section 12 of the said Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended, and which do not represent funds deposited, or available for deposit, in the German Special Deposit Account under section 4 of the said Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928 shall be sold by the Secretary of the Treasury, and the proceeds shall be deposited in the Treasury to the account of the Attorney General, Alien Property Bureau. 5. All Executive orders heretofore issued delegating or transferring to the Alien Property Custodian or to the Attorney General or the Department of Justice powers vested in the President by the said Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended, are hereby superseded by this order in so far as they delegate or transfer any such powers. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, May 15, 1939 .
Executive Order 8136 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 8136—Delegating Certain Powers to the Attorney General and Directing the Secretary of the Treasury To Sell Certain Securities
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (457 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
All power and authority conferred upon the President by sections 9, 12, 20, and 21 of the said Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended, and all power and authority which the President under that Act has heretofore ordered to be exercised through the Alien Property Custodian, are hereby vested in and shall be exercised through the Attorney General or the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Claims Division in the Department of Justice. 2.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners 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 May 15, 1939, this order concerns Delegating Certain Powers to the Attorney General and Directing the Secretary of the Treasury To Sell Certain Securities. All power and authority conferred upon the President by sections 9, 12, 20, and 21 of the said Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended, and all power and authority which the President under that Act has heretofore ordered to be exercised through the Alien Property Custodian, are hereby vested in and shall be exercised through the Attorney General or the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Claims Division in…
Constitutional Assessment: Scrutinized through Article II, Section 2, this action exercises the President's constitutional role as Commander in Chief. Early Framers recognized broad executive discretion in commanding military forces during conflict, provided it remains bounded by congressional declarations and respects civilian domestic courts.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
▪
All power and authority conferred upon the President by sections 9, 12, 20, and 21 of the said Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended, and all power and authority which the President under that Act has heretofore ordered to be exercised through the Alien Property Custodian, are hereby vested in and shall be exercised through the Attorney General or the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Claims Division in the Department of Justice. 2.
▪
All acts heretofore performed by the Attorney General and by the Department of Justice, under the supervision of the Attorney General, pertaining to the administration of the rights, privileges, duties, and powers conferred upon the Alien Property Custodian by Executive order and thereafter transferred to the Department of Justice, to be administered under the supervision of the Attorney General, by Executive Order No. 6694 of May 1, 1934, are hereby approved, confirmed, and ratified. 3.
▪
The first clause of section 3 of Executive Order No. 6981 of March 2, 1935, is hereby amended to read as follows: "For the purposes of this Executive order, (a) the nationality, residence, domicile, or other qualification of claimants under the Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended, shall be that determined by the Attorney General or the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Claims Division in the Department of Justice;" 4.
▪
All securities in which the Secretary of the Treasury has invested moneys deposited in the Treasury by the Alien Property Custodian or the Attorney General, as successor to the Alien Property Custodian, under section 12 of the said Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended, and which do not represent funds deposited, or available for deposit, in the German Special Deposit Account under section 4 of the said Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928 shall be sold by the Secretary of the Treasury, and the proceeds shall be deposited in the Treasury to the account of the Attorney General, Alien Property Bureau. 5.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
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 2 (Zone of Twilight)
§
"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."
— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
JM
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.
Madisonian Stance: Vigilant / Cautionary
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: Strong Prerogative Support
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
33 / 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
Low Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Confined strictly to internal federal jurisdiction, federal property, or direct military command.
Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments
Low Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
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
Moderate Friction
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.
Benchmark: Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
⚖️
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
457
2,718 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
18.4
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
🔗
Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Franklin D. Roosevelt • 1942-04-21
Related Executive Orders
2 orders cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 6694 May 1, 1934
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6694—Abolishment of the Office of the Alien Property Custodian and Transfer of Its Functions to the Department of Justice
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
Abolishment of the Office and Transfer of Its Functions 1. The Office of the Alien Property Custodian is abolished, and the authority, rights, privileges, powers, and duties conferred and imposed on the Alien Property Custodian by law and/or Executive order are transferred to…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 3m
EO 6981 Mar 2, 1935
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 6981—Removing, in Certain Cases, Restrictions Imposed by Public Resolution 53, of June 27, 1934, as to Payments, Transfers, and Deliveries of Property under the Trading with the Enemy Act and the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Order as follows: Section 1. For the purposes of the said resolution, it is hereby determined that Germany has been and is now in arrears in payments of principal and interest under the debt-funding agreement between Germany and the United States dated June 23, 1930, with…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 3m
EO 8135 May 15, 1939
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8135—Appeals From Decisions of the Auditor General of the Philippines to the President of the United States
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
I hereby prescribe the following regulations and procedure governing appeals from decisions of the Auditor General of the Philippines to the President of the United States: 1.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 2m
EO 8134 May 15, 1939
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8134—Modification of Executive Order No. 6746 of June 21, 1934, as Modified, Prescribing Rates of Compensation of Government Employees in Emergency Agencies, Etc.
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
Executive Order No. 6746 of June 21, 1934, as modified, prescribing rates of compensation of Government employees in emergency agencies, etc., not subject to the Classification Act of 1923, as amended, be, and it is hereby, further modified to provide that the heads of agencies…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 8133 May 15, 1939
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8133—Further Amending Executive Order No. 7677-A of July 26, 1937, as Amended, Entitled "Civilian Conservation Corps"
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Paragraph No. 3 of Executive Order No. 7677-A of July 26, 1937, as amended by Executive Order No. 7717 of September 29, 1937, is hereby further amended to read as follows: "3.
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
EO 8138 May 17, 1939
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8138—Partial Revocation of Executive Order of July 9, 1910, Creating Coal Land Withdrawal, Montana No. 1
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
By virtue of the authority vested in me by the act of June 25, 1910, c. 421, 36 Stat. 847, the Executive order of July 9, 1910, creating Coal Land Withdrawal, Montana No. 1, is hereby revoked as to the following-described lands: MONTANA MERIDIAN, MONTANA T. 21 N., R. 23 E., all.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 6 • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 8136 (May 15, 1939), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8136-delegating-certain-powers-the-attorney-general-and-directing-the.
