Domestic policy during Franklin Roosevelt’s second term

The first two years of Roosevelt’s second term, which he won by a landslide, were more of the same with New Deal legislation. The legislature was in lock-step with the executive branch and passed whatever socialist policies that he asked them to. Socialist in this context means an economic and political theory which advocates collective or governmental ownership and/or administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.

Early in 1937 Roosevelt attempted to bring the Supreme Court in line by asking Congress to allow him to appoint one justice for every justice on the court who was older than 70 years old. This would have added six liberal justices to the court who would have rubber stamped as constitutional any New Deal legislation that came before the court. Congress refused to comply because they knew the importance of checks and balances in the federal republican system.

For some reason, beginning in March of 1937, Justice Owen J. Roberts who was appointed by Herbert Hoover as a conservative justice began to rule in favor of New Deal legislation. He upheld a law that established a minimum wage for women, the Wagner Act, and the Social Security Act. Another end-around for Roosevelt was that Congress passed a law that ensured that retired justices would receive a full pension. Once this law was passed, a conservative justice resigned from the court, and FDR appointed Justice Hugo L. Black to the court. He was a former member of the Birmingham, Ala. Ku Klux Klan and an advocate of the New Deal.

In September of 1937 Congress passed legislation which established the U.S. Housing Authority. This agency was designed to lend money to the states or communities for low cost construction. This agency backed up the Federal Housing Authority. It is one of the few New Deal agencies that are still in existence.

Another landmark New Deal law was passed in June of 1938. The Fair Labor Standards Act laid the groundwork for current federal labor policy which governs businesses on minimum wages, maximum hours, and child labor. The original law was only applied to companies who participated in interstate commerce to pay a minimum wage and have maximum hours (a 40 hour work week). Child labor was forbidden for children under the age of 16, and children under the age of 18 were forbidden to work in dangerous occupations.

Businesses saw how these socialist policies were damaging the economy, and the economy did not turn around despite New Deal policies and huge amounts of government spending. In the 1938 mid-term elections, Roosevelt actively campaigned against three incumbent, conservative senators. His efforts were not successful.

The Reorganization Act which became law in April of 1939 attempted to centralize more power in the Executive Branch of government under the guises of promoting government efficiency and cutting spending. Congress did not want Roosevelt to have too much power that could be seen as dictatorial.

As a result of the 1938 mid-term elections, Roosevelt encouraged Congress to pass the Hatch Act in August of 1939. This law prohibits federal administration officials from active political campaigning. This is a violation of the First Amendment. It also forbids using federal money for political purposes and collecting campaign contributions from welfare recipients. In 1940 the law was amended to limit the amount of money an individual can donate to a political campaign and to limit the amount of money political campaigns could spend. This amendment is also a violation of the First Amendment.

Under the New Deal, the federal government became the largest “business” in the United States. The national debt grew from $19.4 billion to $40.4 billion, a dramatic increase of 108 percent. However, world events were working to draw Roosevelt’s focus from domestic to foreign policy.