Executive Order 5661 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 5661—Amendments to the Consular Regulations

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Wednesday, July 1, 1931

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2 min read (335 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 Herbert Hoover on 1931-07-01, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Amendments to the Consular Regulations." It outlines operative directives for executive department officers, delegating enforcement responsibilities and establishing official governance guidelines.

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

▪ The final sentence of the last paragraph of section 21 of the Consular Regulations as established by Executive Order No.

▪ 5642 of June 8, 1931, is hereby canceled.

▪ The following section is hereby established in Article I of the Consular Regulations, 1896: 29.

▪ During the absence of the principal officer, the ranking consular officer, or a consular officer specifically designated by the Secretary of State, shall assume full charge of the office under his bond.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities

Total Words

335

2,069 characters

Estimated Read Time

2 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

12.1

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 5661, Herbert Hoover (Jul 1, 1931). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-5661-amendments-the-consular-regulations.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

The final sentence of the last paragraph of section 21 of the Consular Regulations as established by Executive Order No. 5642 of June 8, 1931, is hereby canceled. The following section is hereby established in Article I of the Consular Regulations, 1896: 29. Responsibility for office during absence of principal officer. During the absence of the principal officer, the ranking consular officer, or a consular officer specifically designated by the Secretary of State, shall assume full charge of the office under his bond. Determination of ranking officer. The ranking consular officer shall be determined by consular grade in the following order of precedence: Consuls general, consuls, vice consuls of career, vice consuls not of career. In case there are at the post two or more officers of the same grade, the senior officer shall be determined by rank in the classified Foreign Service; and in the case of officers of the same grade who hold commissions in the same class of Foreign Service officers, the one whose consular commission assigning him to the post bears the earliest date shall take precedence. Seniority between vice consuls of career at the same post shall be determined in the manner indicated in the preceding paragraph except that the salary grades established for Foreign Service officers unclassified shall be considered as separate classes in determining the order of rank of such officers. Seniority between vice consuls not of career shall be governed by the dates of consular commissions to the post. (See also sec. 442.) Section 442 of the Consular Regulations, 1896, is amended to read as follows: 442. Rank by seniority in the same grade. Consular officers of the United States are entitled to enjoy the rank and precedence above stated. This precedence shall be determined, among officers of the same grade, in accordance with the provisions of section 29 of these regulations. For their relative rank among their colleagues representing other countries at the same place, see section 76. HERBERT HOOVER The White House, July 1, 1931.