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Executive Order 10055 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation

Executive Order 10055—Amendment of Executive Order No. 9 of January 17, 1873. Relating to the Holding of Local Offices by Federal Officers and Employees

Harry S Truman Harry S Truman
•
Friday, May 6, 1949
•
2 min read (323 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (323 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Executive Order No. 9 of January 17, 1873, as amended, prohibiting with certain exceptions, Federal officers and employees of department, offices, and agencies, including corporation, in or under the executive branch of the Government of the United States who are residents of the City of Norris, Tennessee: Provided, that in each instance the Federal agency concerned shall approve the holding of such office by the Federal officer or employee involved and shall determine that the holding of such office will not in any manner interfere or conflict with the performance of the duties of such person as an officer or employee of the Federal Government.

View all 1 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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 May 6, 1949, this order concerns Amendment of Executive Order No. 9 of January 17, 1873. Relating to the Holding of Local Offices by Federal Officers and Employees. Executive Order No. 9 of January 17, 1873, as amended, prohibiting with certain exceptions, Federal officers and employees of department, offices, and agencies, including corporation, in or under the executive branch of the Government of the United States who are residents of the City of Norris, Tennessee: Provided, that in each instance the Federal agency concerned shall approve the holding of such office by the…

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

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Executive Order No. 9 of January 17, 1873, as amended, prohibiting with certain exceptions, Federal officers and employees of department, offices, and agencies, including corporation, in or under the executive branch of the Government of the United States who are residents of the City of Norris, Tennessee: Provided, that in each instance the Federal agency concerned shall approve the holding of such office by the Federal officer or employee involved and shall determine that the holding of such office will not in any manner interfere or conflict with the performance of the duties of such person as an officer or employee of the Federal Government.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Uncategorized
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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)
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"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

"A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government." — Federalist No. 70 (1788)

Hamilton would view this directive as the natural and indispensable functioning of administrative leadership. Without the power to coordinate agencies, manage personnel, and resolve operational ambiguities, the modern presidency would be reduced to an impotent figurehead.

Hamiltonian Stance: Supportive of Execution
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." — 10th Amendment to the US Constitution (1791)

Mason would scrutinize whether this federal directive intrudes into police powers, land stewardship, or municipal domains historically reserved to local citizens. The Anti-Federalist demand is that federal administration must never supplant state self-governance.

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
31 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.

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

Moderate Friction

Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.

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
323
2,021 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
37.1
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

WHEREAS the unincorporated community of Norris, in Anderson County, Tennessee, was transferred to private ownership by the United States, acting by and through the Tennessee Valley Authority , on August 31, 1948; and WHEREAS it has been deemed necessary by the local residents to organize the Norris community into an incorporated municipality in order to provide essential services and functions, some o which were provided formerly by the Tennessee Valley Authority, and for which no permanent arrangements have been established; and WHEREAS on April 8, 1949, a Private Act of the legislature of the State of Tennessee was approved, under which a charter of incorporation has been granted creating the municipality styled City of Norris, Tennessee; and WHEREAS a substantial number of the residents of the said City of Norris, Tennessee, are officers or employees of agencies of the Federal Government, so that the establishment and successful administration of local self-government in the new City of Norris would be seriously jeopardized if such residents were to remain ineligible to become candidates for, and to hold, local municipal offices:

NOW, THEREFORE, #now-therefore

by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 1753 of the Revised Statures of the United States (5 U.S.C. 631), and as President of the United States, Executive Order No. 9 of January 17, 1873, as amended, prohibiting with certain exceptions, Federal officers and employees of department, offices, and agencies, including corporation, in or under the executive branch of the Government of the United States who are residents of the City of Norris, Tennessee: Provided, that in each instance the Federal agency concerned shall approve the holding of such office by the Federal officer or employee involved and shall determine that the holding of such office will not in any manner interfere or conflict with the performance of the duties of such person as an officer or employee of the Federal Government. HARRY S. TRUMAN

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

May 6, 1949

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 10,055 (May 6, 1949), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10055-amendment-executive-order-no-9-january-17-1873-relating-the-holding.