Executive Order 10251 Constitutional Friction / Overreach (-0.19)

Executive Order 10251—Suspension of the Eight-Hour Law as to Laborers and Mechanics Employed by the Department of Defense on Public Work Essential to the National Defense

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Thursday, June 7, 1951

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2 min read (371 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 Harry S Truman on 1951-06-07, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Suspension of the Eight-Hour Law as to Laborers and Mechanics Employed by the Department of Defense on Public Work Essential to the National Defense." 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

▪ 2914 of December 16, 1950, I proclaimed the existence of a national emergency, which requires that the military, naval, air, and civilian defenses of this country be strengthened as speedily as possible; and WHEREAS by section 1 of the act of August 1, 1892, 27 Stat.

▪ 340, as amended by the act of March 3, 1913, 37 Stat.

▪ 9898 of October 14, 1947, as amended by Executive Order No.

▪ 10135 of June 30, 1950, is hereby superseded; but nothing contained in this order shall prejudice any action heretofore taken under or pursuant to the said Executive Order No.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Total Words

371

2,072 characters

Estimated Read Time

2 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

14.1

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

-0.19

Framers' Alignment index

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 10251, Harry S Truman (Jun 7, 1951). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10251-suspension-the-eight-hour-law-laborers-and-mechanics-employed-the.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

WHEREAS by Proclamation No. 2914 of December 16, 1950, I proclaimed the existence of a national emergency, which requires that the military, naval, air, and civilian defenses of this country be strengthened as speedily as possible; and WHEREAS by section 1 of the act of August 1, 1892, 27 Stat. 340, as amended by the act of March 3, 1913, 37 Stat. 726 (40 U.S.C. 321), the service or employment of all laborers and mechanics employed by the Government of the United States upon any public work of the United States is limited to eight hours in any one calendar day, except in case of extraordinary emergency; and WHEREAS I find that as to public work being performed by the Department of Defense an extraordinary emergency exists: NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 1 of the said act of August 1, 1892, as amended by the said act of March 3, 1913, and as President of the United States, I hereby suspend for the duration of the national emergency proclaimed by me on December 16, 1950, the above-mentioned provisions of law prohibiting more than eight hours of labor in any one calendar day by laborers and mechanics employed by the Government of the Untied States as to all work performed by laborers and mechanics employed by the Department of Defense on any public work which is essential to the national defense: Provided, That the wages of all laborers and mechanics so employed by the Department of Defense shall be computed on a basic day rate of eight hours of work with overtime to be paid at time and one-half for all hours of work in excess of eight hours in any one day. Executive Order No. 9898 of October 14, 1947, as amended by Executive Order No. 9926 of January 17, 1948, and as extended by Executive Orders no. 9974 of July 1, 1948, No. 10064 of June 30, 1949, and No. 10135 of June 30, 1950, is hereby superseded; but nothing contained in this order shall prejudice any action heretofore taken under or pursuant to the said Executive Order No. 9898 as amended and extended. HARRY S. TRUMAN THE WHITE HOUSE, June 7, 1951