Executive Order 6726 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 6726—Establishing the Division of Territories and Island Possessions in the Department of the Interior and Transferring Thereto the Functions of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, War Department, Pertaining to the Administration of the Government of Puerto Rico

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Tuesday, May 29, 1934

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2 min read (353 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 1934-05-29, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Establishing the Division of Territories and Island Possessions in the Department of the Interior and Transferring Thereto the Functions of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, War Department, Pertaining to the Administration of the Government of Puerto Rico." It outlines operative directives for executive department officers, delegating enforcement responsibilities and establishing official governance guidelines.

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

▪ 16): Provided , That in case it shall appear to the President that the interests of economy require that the transfer be delayed beyond the date this order becomes effective, he may, in his discretion, fix a later date therefor, and he may for like cause further defer such date from time to time.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Total Words

353

2,139 characters

Estimated Read Time

2 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

24.1

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 6726, Franklin D. Roosevelt (May 29, 1934). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6726-establishing-the-division-territories-and-island-possessions-the.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

Whereas section 16 of the act of March 3, 1933 (ch. 212, 47 Stat. 1517), provides for reorganizations within the executive branch of the Government, requires the President to investigate and determine what reorganizations are necessary to accomplish the purposes therein stated, and authorizes the President to make such reorganizations by Executive order; and Whereas after investigation I find and declare that the establishment of a Division of Territories and Island Possessions in the Department of the Interior and the transfer thereto of the functions of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, War Department, pertaining to the administration of the Government of Puerto Rico is necessary to effectuate the purposes of the said section 16; Now, Therefore , by virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the aforesaid section 16 of the act of March 3, 1933, it is ordered that a division which shall be known as the Division of Territories and Island Possessions be, and it is hereby, established in the Department of the Interior; and it is further ordered that all of the functions of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, Department of War, together with its personnel, records, supplies, equipment, and property of every land, and unexpended balances of appropriations and/or allotments in Washington and elsewhere, pertaining to or connected with the administration of the Government of Puerto Rico, be, and they are hereby, transferred from the Department of War to the Division of Territories and Island Possessions, Department of the Interior, to be administered under the supervision of the Secretary of the Interior. This order will become effective in accordance with the provisions of section 1 of title III of the act of March 20, 1933 (ch. 3, 4S Stat. 16): Provided , That in case it shall appear to the President that the interests of economy require that the transfer be delayed beyond the date this order becomes effective, he may, in his discretion, fix a later date therefor, and he may for like cause further defer such date from time to time. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT Done in triplicate The White House, May 29, 1934.