Whereas the President of the United States is authorized by the provisions of section 124(h) of the Internal Revenue Code to prescribe regulations governing the issuance of payment certificates under said section, and Whereas the functions, powers and duties of the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy with respect to such certificates have been transferred to the Chairman of the War Production Board by Executive order of this date: Now, Therefore , by virtue of the authority so vested in me as President, the following regulations are hereby prescribed: 1. Definitions . As used throughout these regulations-- a. "Emergency facility" means any facility, land, building, machinery, or equipment, or part thereof, the construction, reconstruction, erection, or installation of which was completed after December 31, 1939, or which was acquired after such date, and with respect to which a necessity certificate has been made pursuant to section 124(f) of the Internal Revenue Code. b. "Payment certificate" means a certificate made pursuant to section 124(h) of the Internal Revenue Code. c. "Certifying authority" means the Chairman of the War Production Board or his duly authorized representative. d. "Contracting agency" means any Government agency which has been or hereafter may be authorized to make contracts pursuant to section 201 of the First War Powers Act, 1941, and includes the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and any corporation organized pursuant to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act (47 Stat. 5), as amended, the Smaller War Plants Corporation, and the War Production Board. 2. Circumstances under which a Payment Certificate may be issued . The certifying authority may issue a payment certificate when it is determined that a payment has been made by the United States with respect to an emergency facility, as compensation to the taxpayer for the unamortized cost of the emergency facility because-- a. A contract with the United States involving the use of the facility has been terminated by its terms or by cancellation, or, b. The taxpayer had reasonable grounds (either from provisions of a contract with the United States involving the use of the facility, or from written or oral representations made under authority of the United States) for anticipating future contracts involving the use of the facility, which future contracts have not been made. 3. Procedure . The certifying authority is empowered to obtain a certified statement from the officer of the contracting agency who authorized the payment (or his successor in office or duly authorized representative) as proof of-- a. the date of payment, b. the amount of payment, c. the facility for which the payment was made, and d. the fact that the payment was made as compensation for the unamortized cost of an emergency facility for one of the reasons stated in paragraph 2 hereof. 4. Administrative matters . The certifying authority may from time to time issue supplemental rules relating to payment certificates, including rules with respect to the form of application, the time and place of filing, and other administrative matters pertaining to such certificates. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, October 20, 1944.
Executive Order 9491—Regulations Governing the Issuance of Payment Certificates Under Section 124(H) of the Internal Revenue Code
Executive Brief • At a Glance
The following regulations are hereby prescribed: 1.
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on October 20, 1944, this order concerns Regulations Governing the Issuance of Payment Certificates Under Section 124(H) of the Internal Revenue Code. The following regulations are hereby prescribed: 1. Definitions . As used throughout these regulations-- a. "Emergency facility" means any facility, land, building, machinery, or equipment, or part thereof, the construction, reconstruction, erection, or installation of which was completed after December 31, 1939, or which was acquired after such date, and with respect to which a necessity certificate has been made…
Key Directives & Operative Actions
The following regulations are hereby prescribed: 1.
"Certifying authority" means the Chairman of the War Production Board or his duly authorized representative. d.
"Contracting agency" means any Government agency which has been or hereafter may be authorized to make contracts pursuant to section 201 of the First War Powers Act, 1941, and includes the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and any corporation organized pursuant to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act (47 Stat. 5), as amended, the Smaller War Plants Corporation, and the War Production Board. 2.
A contract with the United States involving the use of the facility has been terminated by its terms or by cancellation, or, b.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
Policy Areas & Topics
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
"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."
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.
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.
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.
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 9491 (Oct. 20, 1944), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9491-regulations-governing-the-issuance-payment-certificates-under-section.