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Executive Order 10011 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution

Executive Order 10011—Authorizing the Secretary of State to Exercise Certain Powers of the President With Respect to the Granting of Allowances and Allotments to Government Personnel on Foreign Duty

Harry S Truman Harry S Truman
•
Friday, October 22, 1948
•
3 min read (657 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (657 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The Secretary of State is authorized and directed to exercise the following-described statutory powers of the President: (a) The authority vested in the President by section 901 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 1025) to prescribe regulations governing the granting of (1) allowances, wherever Government-owned or rented quarters are not available, for living quarters, heat, light, fuel, gas, and electricity, including allowances for the cost of lodging at temporary quarters, authorized by paragraph (1) of the said section; (2) cost-of-living allowances authorized by paragraph (2) of the said section; and (3) allowances in order to provide for the proper representation of the United States by officers and employees of the Foreign…

View all 4 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners Foreign Nations & International Entities
Inspect unabridged text ↓

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

Signed by President Harry S Truman on October 22, 1948, this order concerns Authorizing the Secretary of State to Exercise Certain Powers of the President With Respect to the Granting of Allowances and Allotments to Government Personnel on Foreign Duty. The Secretary of State is authorized and directed to exercise the following-described statutory powers of the President: (a) The authority vested in the President by section 901 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 1025) to prescribe regulations governing the granting of (1) allowances, wherever Government-owned or rented quarters are not available, for living quarters, heat, light, fuel, gas, and…

Constitutional Assessment: This action represents an orderly exercise of Article II administrative discretion, managing the internal machinery and personnel of the executive branch without abridging the ancient liberties of the people.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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The Secretary of State is authorized and directed to exercise the following-described statutory powers of the President: (a) The authority vested in the President by section 901 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 1025) to prescribe regulations governing the granting of (1) allowances, wherever Government-owned or rented quarters are not available, for living quarters, heat, light, fuel, gas, and electricity, including allowances for the cost of lodging at temporary quarters, authorized by paragraph (1) of the said section; (2) cost-of-living allowances authorized by paragraph (2) of the said section; and (3) allowances in order to provide for the proper representation of the United States by officers and employees of the Foreign…

▪

The authority vested in the President by section 903 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 1026) to prescribe rules and regulations governing the manner in which the allowances and allotments authorized by sections 901 and 902 of the said act shall be accounted for to the Secretary of State.

▪

The authority vested in the President by the act of June 26, 1030, 46 Stat. 818 (5 U.S.C. 118a), to approve regulations prescribed by heads of departments with respect to (1) furnishing civilian officers and employees of the Government having permanent station in a foreign country, without cost to them, living quarters, including heat, fuel, and light, in Government-owned or rented buildings, and (2) allowances granted such officers and employees where such living quarters are not available: Provided, that with respect to regulations prescribed by the Secretary of State such authority of the President shall be exercised by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget.

▪

The Secretary of State and the Director of the Bureau of the Budget may exercise the authority herein delegated to them without the necessity of any signature, approval, ratification, or other act of the President; and all officers, officials, and employees of the United States, including disbursing, accounting, and auditing officers, shall give the same effect to any act of the Secretary or Director hereunder as if done by the President. 3.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Economy & Finance
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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 1 (Maximum Authority)
§

"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)

Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
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: Supportive of Execution
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
46 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

High Friction

Touches upon core congressional prerogatives: raises appropriations reallocation, tariff imposition, or statutory preemption questions.

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

High Friction

Creates friction with the Tenth Amendment by conditioning state grants, mandating local compliance, or preempting state police powers.

Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments

Due Process & Individual Rights

Low Friction

Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.

Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️ 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
657
4,076 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
15.3
College Level
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
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Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Foreign Service Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 999), section 202 of the Revised Statutes (5 U.S.C. 156), the act of June 26, 1930, 46 Stat. 818 (5 U.S.C. 118a), section 204 of the Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 1949 (Public Law 491, 80th Cong.), and section 302 of the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 (Public Law 402, 80th Cong.), and as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. The Secretary of State is authorized and directed to exercise the following-described statutory powers of the President: (a) The authority vested in the President by section 901 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 1025) to prescribe regulations governing the granting of (1) allowances, wherever Government-owned or rented quarters are not available, for living quarters, heat, light, fuel, gas, and electricity, including allowances for the cost of lodging at temporary quarters, authorized by paragraph (1) of the said section; (2) cost-of-living allowances authorized by paragraph (2) of the said section; and (3) allowances in order to provide for the proper representation of the United States by officers and employees of the Foreign Service, authorized by paragraph (3) of the said section. (b) The authority vested in the President by section 903 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 1026) to prescribe rules and regulations governing the manner in which the allowances and allotments authorized by sections 901 and 902 of the said act shall be accounted for to the Secretary of State. (c) The authority vested in the President by the act of June 26, 1030, 46 Stat. 818 (5 U.S.C. 118a), to approve regulations prescribed by heads of departments with respect to (1) furnishing civilian officers and employees of the Government having permanent station in a foreign country, without cost to them, living quarters, including heat, fuel, and light, in Government-owned or rented buildings, and (2) allowances granted such officers and employees where such living quarters are not available: Provided, that with respect to regulations prescribed by the Secretary of State such authority of the President shall be exercised by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget. (d) The authority vested in the President by section 204 of the Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 1949 (Public Law 491, 80th Cong.), and by section 302 of the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 (Public Law 402, 80th Cong.) to prescribe, with respect to civilian officers and employees of the Government, regulations governing living-quarters allowances, cost-of-living allowances, and representation allowances in accordance with, or similar to such allowances authorized by the said act of June 26, 1030, or the said section 901 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946. 2. The Secretary of State and the Director of the Bureau of the Budget may exercise the authority herein delegated to them without the necessity of any signature, approval, ratification, or other act of the President; and all officers, officials, and employees of the United States, including disbursing, accounting, and auditing officers, shall give the same effect to any act of the Secretary or Director hereunder as if done by the President. 3. (a) Existing rules and regulations pertaining to the allowances and allotments referred to in this order shall remain in effect until superseded by action taken pursuant to this order. (b) Executive Order No. 9870 of July 8, 1947, and Executive Order No. 9982 of July 29, 1948, are hereby revoked: Provided, that existing rules and regulations prescribed pursuant to such orders shall remain in effect until superseded as provided in paragraph 3(a) hereof. 4. This order, and such of the regulations prescribed or approved by the Secretary of State and the Director of the Bureau of the Budge thereunder as the Secretary and Director shall res0ectively determine, shall be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER. HARRY S. TRUMAN

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

October 22, 1948

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (6)

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

References Executive Order 10903—Delegating Authority of the President With Respect to Regulations Relating to Certain Allowances and Benefits to Government Personnel on Overseas Duty
Dwight D. Eisenhower • 1961-01-09
Amends Executive Order 10853—Delegating the Authority of the President With Respect to Various Allowances to Certain Government Personnel on Foreign Duty
Dwight D. Eisenhower • 1959-11-27
References Executive Order 10623—Amendment of Certain Provisions of Executive Orders No. 10000 and No. 10011, as Amended, Pertaining to Salary Differentials and Allowances for Officers and Employees of the Foreign Service Serving Outside the United States
Dwight D. Eisenhower • 1955-07-23
Amends Executive Order 10503—Amendment of Executive Order No. 10011, as Amended, Authorizing the Secretary of State To Exercise Certain Powers of the President With Respect to the Granting of Allowances and Allotments to Government Personnel On Foreign Duty
Dwight D. Eisenhower • 1953-12-01
Amends Executive Order 10313—Amendment of Executive Order No. 10011 of October 22, 1948, as Amended, Authorizing the Secretary of State to Exercise Certain Powers of the President with Respect to the Granting of Allowances and Allotments to Government Personnel on Foreign Duty
Harry S Truman • 1951-12-14
Amends Executive Order 10187—Amendment of Executive Order No. 10011 of October 22, 1948, as Amended Authorizing the Secretary of State to Exercise Certain Powers of the President with Respect to the Granting of Allowances and Allotments to Government Personnel on Foreign Duty
Harry S Truman • 1950-12-04
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 10,011 (Oct. 22, 1948), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10011-authorizing-the-secretary-state-exercise-certain-powers-the.