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Executive Orders Historical Archive
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Executive Order 9299 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 9299—Prescribing Regulations and Procedure With Respect to Wage and Salary Adjustments for Employees Subject to the Railway Labor Act

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Thursday, February 4, 1943
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3 min read (697 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (697 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

No increases in the wage rates or salary of any employee subject to the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, whether granted as a result of voluntary agreement, collective bargaining, conciliation. arbitration, or otherwise, and no decreases in such wage rates or salary, shall be made except in accordance with the provisions of this order; provided, however, that nothing contained in this order or Executive Order No. 9250 shall be construed as affecting the procedure or limiting the jurisdiction of either the National Mediation Board, as defined in the Railway Labor Act, or the National Railway Labor Panel, as defined in Executive Order No. 9172, except as herein specifically set forth. 2.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
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 February 4, 1943, this order concerns Prescribing Regulations and Procedure With Respect to Wage and Salary Adjustments for Employees Subject to the Railway Labor Act. No increases in the wage rates or salary of any employee subject to the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, whether granted as a result of voluntary agreement, collective bargaining, conciliation. arbitration, or otherwise, and no decreases in such wage rates or salary, shall be made except in accordance with the provisions of this order; provided, however, that nothing contained in this order or Executive Order…

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

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No increases in the wage rates or salary of any employee subject to the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, whether granted as a result of voluntary agreement, collective bargaining, conciliation. arbitration, or otherwise, and no decreases in such wage rates or salary, shall be made except in accordance with the provisions of this order; provided, however, that nothing contained in this order or Executive Order No. 9250 shall be construed as affecting the procedure or limiting the jurisdiction of either the National Mediation Board, as defined in the Railway Labor Act, or the National Railway Labor Panel, as defined in Executive Order No. 9172, except as herein specifically set forth. 2.

▪

No carrier shall make any change in wage rates, except such changes as by general order of the National War Labor Board, or by regulations of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, are permitted to be made without the specific approval of the Board or the Commissioner, as the case may be, unless notice of such proposed change shall have been filed with the Chairman of the National Railway Labor Panel, created by Executive Order No. 9172. and shall have been permitted to become effective as hereinafter provided.

▪

Notwithstanding §4001.2 of the Regulations of the Economic Stabilization Director, for the purpose of determining what wage and salary adjustments may be made without any specific approval, the general orders of the National War Labor Board shall be applicable to all employees subject to the Railway Labor Act. except those receiving salaries at the rate of $5,000 or more per annum in regard to whom the regulations of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall apply.

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But any adjustment of salary under $5,000 heretofore approved by the Commissioner shall not be affected by this order. 3.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
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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 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
42 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

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

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

Moderate Friction

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

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Moderate Friction

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%).
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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
697
4,358 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
17.2
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the United States, and more particularly by the act of October 2, 1942 (Public Law 729. 77th Congress), it is hereby ordered: 1. No increases in the wage rates or salary of any employee subject to the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, whether granted as a result of voluntary agreement, collective bargaining, conciliation. arbitration, or otherwise, and no decreases in such wage rates or salary, shall be made except in accordance with the provisions of this order; provided, however, that nothing contained in this order or Executive Order No. 9250 shall be construed as affecting the procedure or limiting the jurisdiction of either the National Mediation Board, as defined in the Railway Labor Act, or the National Railway Labor Panel, as defined in Executive Order No. 9172, except as herein specifically set forth. 2. No carrier shall make any change in wage rates, except such changes as by general order of the National War Labor Board, or by regulations of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, are permitted to be made without the specific approval of the Board or the Commissioner, as the case may be, unless notice of such proposed change shall have been filed with the Chairman of the National Railway Labor Panel, created by Executive Order No. 9172. and shall have been permitted to become effective as hereinafter provided. Notwithstanding §4001.2 of the Regulations of the Economic Stabilization Director, for the purpose of determining what wage and salary adjustments may be made without any specific approval, the general orders of the National War Labor Board shall be applicable to all employees subject to the Railway Labor Act. except those receiving salaries at the rate of $5,000 or more per annum in regard to whom the regulations of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall apply. But any adjustment of salary under $5,000 heretofore approved by the Commissioner shall not be affected by this order. 3. If the Chairman of the National Railway Labor Panel has reason to believe that the proposed change, in wage rates or salary, may not conform to the standards prescribed in Executive Order No. 9250, or to the general stabilization program made effective thereunder, or to the directives on policy issued by the Economic Stabilization Director thereunder and the proposed change is not modified to conform to such standards, program, and directives, he shall designate three members of the Panel as an Emergency Board to investigate the proposed change and to report to the President. Otherwise, the Chairman of the Panel may permit the proposed change to become effective. 4. Emergency Boards, whether designated pursuant to the Railway Labor Act, Executive Order No. 9172, or section 3 of this order, in reporting to the President shall certify that their recommendations in regard to any proposed change affecting wage and salary payments conform with the standards prescribed in Executive Order No. 9250, the general stabilization program made effective thereunder, and with the directives on policy issued by the Economic Stabilization Director thereunder. 5. Copies of the report with recommendations made to the President by any Emergency Board under section 4 of this order shall be filed by the Board forthwith with the Economic Stabilization Director, the National War Labor Board and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. The Economic Stabilization Director may on behalf of himself or other departments and agencies concerned, report to the President the effect of the recommendations on the general stabilization program. Unless and except to the extent that the Economic Stabilization Director shall otherwise direct, the recommendations of the Emergency Board in regard to proposed changes affecting wages and salary payments shall, upon the expiration of thirty days after the report is filed with the President, become effective. 6. The National War Labor Board and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall either rule on any application for approval of wage and salary adjustments now before the Board and the Commissioner or transfer it to the Chairman of the National Railway Labor Panel. The Board and the Commissioner shall not rule on any application hereafter made. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, February 4, 1943.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (2)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 9299 (Feb. 4, 1943), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9299-prescribing-regulations-and-procedure-with-respect-wage-and-salary.