Executive Order 7542 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 7542—Transfer of Certain Records of the Railroad Administration to the General Accounting Office, the Interstate Commerce Commission, and the United States Civil Service Commission

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Wednesday, January 27, 1937

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1 min read (257 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 1937-01-27, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Transfer of Certain Records of the Railroad Administration to the General Accounting Office, the Interstate Commerce Commission, and the United States Civil Service Commission." 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

▪ 163, 233), it is ordered as follows: 1.

▪ All files and records of the United States Railroad Administration (including file equipment) relating to claims arising out of or incident to a fire in the State of Minnesota on October 12, 1918, are hereby transferred to the custody and care of the General Accounting Office.

▪ The files and records of the United States Railroad Administration consisting of an additional set of freight rate authorities and all surplus copies of general orders, bulletins, circulars, annual reports, and contracts issued by or drawn in favor of the Director General of Railroads are hereby transferred to the custody and care of the Interstate Commerce Commission.

▪ The physical transfer of the files and records covered by this order shall be completed on or before February 15, 1937, and the General Accounting Office, the Interstate Commerce Commission, and the United States Civil Service Commission are respectively designated as custodians to receive such files and records.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Total Words

257

1,602 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

19.2

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 7542, Franklin D. Roosevelt (Jan 27, 1937). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-7542-transfer-certain-records-the-railroad-administration-the-general.

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 4 of the act entitled "An Act Making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1920, and for other purposes", approved July 19, 1919 (41 Stat. 163, 233), it is ordered as follows: 1. All files and records of the United States Railroad Administration (including file equipment) relating to claims arising out of or incident to a fire in the State of Minnesota on October 12, 1918, are hereby transferred to the custody and care of the General Accounting Office. 2. The files and records of the United States Railroad Administration consisting of an additional set of freight rate authorities and all surplus copies of general orders, bulletins, circulars, annual reports, and contracts issued by or drawn in favor of the Director General of Railroads are hereby transferred to the custody and care of the Interstate Commerce Commission. 3. The files and records of the United States Railroad Administration consisting of the original payrolls and personnel records of such Administration (including file equipment) are hereby transferred to the custody and care of the United States Civil Service Commission. 4. The physical transfer of the files and records covered by this order shall be completed on or before February 15, 1937, and the General Accounting Office, the Interstate Commerce Commission, and the United States Civil Service Commission are respectively designated as custodians to receive such files and records. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The White House, January 27, 1937.