Executive Order 8516 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 8516—Suspending and Making Inoperative the Executive Order of January 17, 1873, as Amended, Insofar as the United States Civil Service Commission Shall, by Regulation, Authorize Appointments to Positions Directly Concerned With National Defense

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Thursday, August 15, 1940

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1 min read (100 words)

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

This executive order, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 1940-08-15, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Suspending and Making Inoperative the Executive Order of January 17, 1873, as Amended, Insofar as the United States Civil Service Commission Shall, by Regulation, Authorize Appointments to Positions Directly Concerned With National Defense." It is a direct, concise executive instruction delivering focused administrative or military commands to department leadership.

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

▪ Formal executive instruction issued by the President establishing official administrative policy on Suspending and Making Inoperative the Executive Order of January 17, 1873, as Amended, Insofar as the United States Civil Service Commission Shall, by Regulation, Authorize Appointments to Positions Directly Concerned With National Defense.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Total Words

100

641 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

15.8

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 8516, Franklin D. Roosevelt (Aug 15, 1940). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-8516-suspending-and-making-inoperative-the-executive-order-january-17-1873.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

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, it is ordered that the Executive Order of January 17, 1873, as amended, prohibiting, with certain exceptions, Federal officers and employees from holding state, territorial and municipal offices, be, and it is hereby, suspended and made inoperative insofar as the United States Civil Service Commission shall, by regulation, authorize appointments to positions directly concerned with national defense. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, August 15, 1940.