By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the Constitution, by section 1753 of the Revised Statutes (U.S.C., title 5, sec. 631), by the Civil Service Act of January 16, 1883 (22 Stat. 403, 404), and as President of the United States, it is ordered that section 3 of Executive Order No. 8044 of January 31, 1939, be and it is hereby amended to read as follows: 3. A committee is hereby appointed consisting of the following: Mr. Justice Stanley Reed, Chairman Mr. Justice Felix Frankfurter Mr. Justice Frank Murphy Attorney General Robert H. Jackson William H. McReynolds, Administrative Assistant to the President Mr. Leonard D. White General Robert E. Wood Mr. Gano Dunn Such committee shall make a comprehensive study of methods of recruiting, testing, selecting, promoting, transferring, removing and reinstating personnel for the positions to which this order relates, and report to the President as soon as possible its recommendations thereon. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, March 9, 1940.
Executive Order 8371 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
Executive Order 8371—Amending Section 3 of Executive Order No. 8044 of January 31, 1939, and Appointing Attorney General Robert H. Jackson a Member of the Committee To Investigate and Report Methods for Selecting and Promoting Certain Personnel in Civil Service
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 1 min read (166 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
Of Executive Order No. 8044 of January 31, 1939, be and it is hereby amended to read as follows: 3.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
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 March 9, 1940, this order concerns Amending Section 3 of Executive Order No. 8044 of January 31, 1939, and Appointing Attorney General Robert H. Jackson a Member of the Committee To Investigate and Report Methods for Selecting and Promoting Certain Personnel in Civil Service. Section 3 of Executive Order No. 8044 of January 31, 1939, be and it is hereby amended to read as follows: 3. A committee is hereby appointed consisting of the following: Mr. Justice Stanley Reed, Chairman Mr. Justice Felix Frankfurter Mr. Justice Frank Murphy Attorney General Robert H. Jackson William H. McReynolds, Administrative Assistant to the President Mr. Leonard D. White General Robert E. Wood Mr. Gano Dunn…
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
▪
Of Executive Order No. 8044 of January 31, 1939, be and it is hereby amended to read as follows: 3.
▪
A committee is hereby appointed consisting of the following: Mr. Justice Stanley Reed, Chairman Mr. Justice Felix Frankfurter Mr. Justice Frank Murphy Attorney General Robert H. Jackson William H. McReynolds, Administrative Assistant to the President Mr. Leonard D. White General Robert E. Wood Mr. Gano Dunn Such committee shall make a comprehensive study of methods of recruiting, testing, selecting, promoting, transferring, removing and reinstating personnel for the positions to which this order relates, and report to the President as soon as possible its recommendations thereon.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ 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 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
"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: Defends Vigor & Dispatch
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
📐
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
Low Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
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
Moderate Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.
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
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
166
1,020 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
9.4
High School
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
1 order cited directly in this text, plus related actions from this administration.
EO 8044 Jan 31, 1939
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8044—Postponing the Effective Date of Executive Order No. 7916 of June 24, 1938, With Respect to Certain Positions and Providing for a Committee To Investigate and Report Methods for Selecting and Promoting Certain Personnel in Civil Service
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Until further order, Executive Order No. 7916 of June 24, 1938, is suspended and made inoperative in so far as it covers into the competitive classified civil service as of February 1, 1939: (a) Positions to which, in the opinion of the Civil Service Commission, it is not…
Franklin D. Roosevelt College Level • 2m
EO 8373 Mar 9, 1940
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8373—Designating the Honorable Angel R. de Jesus as Acting Judge of the District Court of the United States for Puerto Rico
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
I hereby designate and authorize the Honorable Angel R. de Jesus, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, to perform and discharge the duties of Judge of the District Court of the United States for Puerto Rico and to sign all necessary papers and records as…
Franklin D. Roosevelt College Level • 1m
EO 8372 Mar 9, 1940
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8372—Modification of Executive Order No. 6957 of February 4, 1935, Withdrawing Public Lands
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
ALASKA By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the act of June 25, 1910, c. 421, 36 Stat. 847, as amended by the act of August 24, 1912, c. 369, 37 Stat. 497, Executive Order No. 6957 of February 4, 1935, withdrawing certain lands in Alaska for classification…
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 6 • 1m
EO 8370 Mar 8, 1940
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8370—Authorizing the Appointment of Miss Edith M. Watkins to a Classified Position in the Department of Justice Without Regard to the Civil Service Rules
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
Miss Edith M. Watkins may be appointed to a classified position in the Department of Justice without compliance with the requirements of the Civil Service Rules.
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
EO 8369 Mar 7, 1940
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8369—Exemption of Louis A. Simon From Compulsory Retirement for Age
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
I hereby further exempt the said Louis A. Simon from compulsory retirement for age for a period of one year ending May 31, 1941.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Grade 9 • 1m
EO 8368 Mar 7, 1940
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 8368—Exemption of Ales Hrdlicka From Compulsory Retirement for Age
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
I hereby further exempt the said Ales Hrdlicka from compulsory retirement for age for a period of one year ending March 31, 1941.
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School • 1m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 8371 (Mar. 9, 1940), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8371-amending-section-3-executive-order-no-8044-january-31-1939-and.
