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Executive Order 10407 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 10407—Withholding of State or Territorial Income Taxes by Federal Agencies

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Thursday, November 6, 1952
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5 min read (916 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 5 min read (916 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

I hereby prescribe the following regulations governing agreements to be entered into between the Secretary of the Treasury and any State or Territory, pursuant to the provisions of the said act of July 17, 1952, with respect to the withholding of State or Territorial income taxes from the compensation of employees of the United States: 1.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

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 November 6, 1952, this order concerns Withholding of State or Territorial Income Taxes by Federal Agencies. I hereby prescribe the following regulations governing agreements to be entered into between the Secretary of the Treasury and any State or Territory, pursuant to the provisions of the said act of July 17, 1952, with respect to the withholding of State or Territorial income taxes from the compensation of employees of the United States: 1.

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

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I hereby prescribe the following regulations governing agreements to be entered into between the Secretary of the Treasury and any State or Territory, pursuant to the provisions of the said act of July 17, 1952, with respect to the withholding of State or Territorial income taxes from the compensation of employees of the United States: 1.

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Such an agreement shall be entered into by the Secretary of the Treasury within 120 days of the receipt of a request therefore by the Secretary from the Governor or any of the proper official of any State or Territory, where (a) the law of such State or Territory provides for the collection of a tax by imposing upon employers generally the duty of withholding sums from the compensation of employees and making returns of such sums to the authorities of such State or Territory, and (b) the duty to withhold is imposed generally with respect to the compensation of employees who are residents such State or Territory: Provided, that each such agreement shall be consistent with the provisions of the said act of July 17, 1952, and of rules and…

▪

Each such agreement (a) shall provide that the head of each agency of the United States shall comply with the requirements of such law of the State or Territory concerned with respect to employees of such agency who are subject to such tax and whose regular place of federal employment is within the State or Territory with which such agreement is entered into, (b) shall specify when the withholding of tax shall commence, and (c) shall provide for procedures for the withholding, the filing of the returns, and the payment of the tax to the State or Territory which conform, in so far as practicable, to the usual fiscal practices of agencies of the United States. 3.

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No such agreement shall apply with respect to compensation for service as a member of the Armed Forces of the United States, or (b) shall require collection by agencies of the United State of delinquent tax liabilities of federal employees. 4.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities
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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 2 (Zone of Twilight)
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"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)

Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.

Madisonian Stance: Vigilant / Cautionary
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: Strong Prerogative Support
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
48 / 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

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

Moderate Friction

Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.

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

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Moderate Friction

The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.

Benchmark: Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
⚖️ 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
916
5,432 characters
Estimated Read Time
5 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
31.8
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 1 of the act of July 17, 1952, 66 Stat. 765, section 301 of title 3 of the United State Code (as added by section 10 of the act of October 31, 1951, 65 Stat. 712), and as President of the United States, I hereby prescribe the following regulations governing agreements to be entered into between the Secretary of the Treasury and any State or Territory, pursuant to the provisions of the said act of July 17, 1952, with respect to the withholding of State or Territorial income taxes from the compensation of employees of the United States: 1. Such an agreement shall be entered into by the Secretary of the Treasury within 120 days of the receipt of a request therefore by the Secretary from the Governor or any of the proper official of any State or Territory, where (a) the law of such State or Territory provides for the collection of a tax by imposing upon employers generally the duty of withholding sums from the compensation of employees and making returns of such sums to the authorities of such State or Territory, and (b) the duty to withhold is imposed generally with respect to the compensation of employees who are residents such State or Territory: Provided, that each such agreement shall be consistent with the provisions of the said act of July 17, 1952, and of rules and regulations issued thereunder, and shall be subject to any amendments of any of such provisions, including amendments occurring after the effective date of any such agreement. 2. Each such agreement (a) shall provide that the head of each agency of the United States shall comply with the requirements of such law of the State or Territory concerned with respect to employees of such agency who are subject to such tax and whose regular place of federal employment is within the State or Territory with which such agreement is entered into, (b) shall specify when the withholding of tax shall commence, and (c) shall provide for procedures for the withholding, the filing of the returns, and the payment of the tax to the State or Territory which conform, in so far as practicable, to the usual fiscal practices of agencies of the United States. 3. No such agreement shall apply with respect to compensation for service as a member of the Armed Forces of the United States, or (b) shall require collection by agencies of the United State of delinquent tax liabilities of federal employees. 4. The head of each agency shall designate, or provide for the designation of the officers or employees whose duty is shall be to withhold taxes, file required returns, and direct the payment of such taxes with held, in accordance with the terms of agreements entered into between the Secretary of the Treasury and the State or Territories. 5. Nothing in this order, or in rules or regulations issued hereunder, or in any agreement entered into pursuant thereto, shall be deemed to consent to the application of any provision of law of any State or Territory which has the effect of imposing more burdensome requirements upon the United States than it imposes upon other employers, or which has the effect of subjecting the United States or any of its officers or employees to any penalty or liability. 6. As used in this order - (a) The term "agency" means each department, commission, authority, administration, board, or other independent establishment of the Government of the United States, including any wholly-owned instrumentality of the United States, but such term does not include governments of the possessions or units of the legislative or judicial branches of the United States except to the extent that any such units may by specific statutory provision be subject to laws relating generally to the executive branch of the Government; (b) The term "Armed Force of the Untied States" includes all regular and reserve components of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard. (c) The term "employees" as applied to employees of the United States includes officers and means individuals appointed by a federal officer and engaged in the performance of federal functions in an agency as defined in paragraph (a) above, under authority of an act of Congress of an Executive order, who in the performance of their duties are supervised and directed by a federal officer, but the term does not include retired personnel, pensioners, annuitants, or similar beneficiaries of the federal government, whether their status is civilian or in the Armed Forces of the United States, who are not performing active service, or persons receiving remuneration for services on a contract-fee basis. (d) The term "regular place of federal employment" means the place where an employee actually performs his services irrespective of his residence, except when such services are performed in a travel or temporary duty status, in which case his "regular place of federal employment" will be the place to which he will normally be expected to proceed for the purpose of performing further services in connection with his federal employment on the termination of travel or temporary duty status. (e) I hereby delegate to the Secretary of the Treasury authority to prescribe such rules and regulations not inconsistent herewith as may be necessary further to effectuate the provisions of the act of July 17, 1952, or of this order. HARRY S. TRUMAN

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

November 6, 1952

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 10,407 (Nov. 6, 1952), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10407-withholding-state-or-territorial-income-taxes-federal-agencies.