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Executive Order 9665 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 9665—Transfer of the Functions of the Smaller War Plants Corporation to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the Department of Commerce

Harry S Truman Harry S Truman
•
Thursday, December 27, 1945
•
3 min read (569 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (569 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

There are transferred to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation all functions of the Smaller War Plants Corporation, hereinafter referred to as the Corporation, under sections 4 (f) and 6 of the act of June 11, 1942, 56 Stat. 351, sections 18 (e) and 18 (f) of the Surplus Property Act of 1944, 58 Stat. 765, and the Contract Settlement Act of 1944, 58 Stat. 649, except sections 20 (g) (1) and 21 (b) thereof and except so much of section 20 (g) (2) thereof as does not provide for making interim loans and guaranties, together with all personnel, property, records, assets, and liabilities otherwise determined pursuant to the provisions of sections 2 or 4 hereof.

View all 4 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners
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 December 27, 1945, this order concerns Transfer of the Functions of the Smaller War Plants Corporation to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the Department of Commerce. There are transferred to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation all functions of the Smaller War Plants Corporation, hereinafter referred to as the Corporation, under sections 4 (f) and 6 of the act of June 11, 1942, 56 Stat. 351, sections 18 (e) and 18 (f) of the Surplus Property Act of 1944, 58 Stat. 765, and the Contract Settlement Act of 1944, 58 Stat. 649, except sections 20 (g) (1) and 21 (b) thereof and…

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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There are transferred to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation all functions of the Smaller War Plants Corporation, hereinafter referred to as the Corporation, under sections 4 (f) and 6 of the act of June 11, 1942, 56 Stat. 351, sections 18 (e) and 18 (f) of the Surplus Property Act of 1944, 58 Stat. 765, and the Contract Settlement Act of 1944, 58 Stat. 649, except sections 20 (g) (1) and 21 (b) thereof and except so much of section 20 (g) (2) thereof as does not provide for making interim loans and guaranties, together with all personnel, property, records, assets, and liabilities otherwise determined pursuant to the provisions of sections 2 or 4 hereof.

▪

The functions of the board of directors of the Corporation which related to the functions of the Corporation transferred by this section are transferred to the board of directors of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. 2.

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All functions of the Corporation not transferred by section 1 of this order are transferred to the Department of Commerce, and all functions of the board of directors of the Corporation which are not transferred by the said section, together with the functions of the chairman as a member of the Contract Settlement Advisory Board (provided for in section 5 of the Contract Settlement Act of 1944), are transferred to the Secretary of Commerce.

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Such functions may be performed through such agencies and persons in the Department of Commerce as the Secretary shall designate, and one of such persons may receive a salary at a rate of not more than $10,000 per annum.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

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 2 (Zone of Twilight)
§

"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
42 / 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

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
569
3,385 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
18.1
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 the Constitution and statutes, including Title I of the First War Powers Act, 1941, and as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. There are transferred to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation all functions of the Smaller War Plants Corporation, hereinafter referred to as the Corporation, under sections 4 (f) and 6 of the act of June 11, 1942, 56 Stat. 351, sections 18 (e) and 18 (f) of the Surplus Property Act of 1944, 58 Stat. 765, and the Contract Settlement Act of 1944, 58 Stat. 649, except sections 20 (g) (1) and 21 (b) thereof and except so much of section 20 (g) (2) thereof as does not provide for making interim loans and guaranties, together with all personnel, property, records, assets, and liabilities otherwise determined pursuant to the provisions of sections 2 or 4 hereof. The functions of the board of directors of the Corporation which related to the functions of the Corporation transferred by this section are transferred to the board of directors of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. 2. All functions of the Corporation not transferred by section 1 of this order are transferred to the Department of Commerce, and all functions of the board of directors of the Corporation which are not transferred by the said section, together with the functions of the chairman as a member of the Contract Settlement Advisory Board (provided for in section 5 of the Contract Settlement Act of 1944), are transferred to the Secretary of Commerce. Such functions may be performed through such agencies and persons in the Department of Commerce as the Secretary shall designate, and one of such persons may receive a salary at a rate of not more than $10,000 per annum. There shall be transferred to the Department of Commerce so much of the personnel, property, and records of the Corporation, and of the funds of the Corporation available for administrative expenses, as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget shall determine to relate primarily to the functions transferred by this section. 3. The board of directors of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the Secretary of Commerce shall, respectively, submit the reports required by section 5 of the said act of June 11, 1942, in connection with the functions transferred under sections 1 and 2 of this order; and expenditures in connection with the functions transferred under the said section 1 which may be considered as non-administrative expenses under Public Law 156, 79th Congress, shall be determined by the chairman of the said board or by a person designated by such board. 4. Such further measures and dispositions as may be determined by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget to be necessary to effectuate the transfers provided for in this order shall be carried out in such manner as the Director may direct and by such agencies as he may designate. 5. All prior regulations, rulings, and other directives relating to any function transferred by this order shall remain in effect except as they are in conflict with this order or are hereafter amended or revoked under proper authority. 6. All provisions of prior Executive orders in conflict with this order are amended accordingly. 7. This order shall be effective as of the opening of business January 28, 1946. HARRY S. TRUMAN

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

December 27, 1945

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 9665 (Dec. 27, 1945), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9665-transfer-the-functions-the-smaller-war-plants-corporation-the.