Subdivision VIII of Schedule B of the Civil Service Rules is hereby amended by adding thereto a new paragraph, numbered 4, to read as follows: "4.
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Harry S Truman on January 31, 1946, this order concerns Amending Schedule B of the Civil Service Rules. Subdivision VIII of Schedule B of the Civil Service Rules is hereby amended by adding thereto a new paragraph, numbered 4, to read as follows: "4. Positions assigned exclusively to Navy Communications Intelligence activities."
Subdivision VIII of Schedule B of the Civil Service Rules is hereby amended by adding thereto a new paragraph, numbered 4, to read as follows: "4.
Positions assigned exclusively to Navy Communications Intelligence activities."
Evaluating 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."
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.
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.
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.
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.
Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.
Confined strictly to internal federal jurisdiction, federal property, or direct military command.
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
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.
By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 2 of the Civil Service Act 922 Stat. 403), Subdivision VIII of Schedule B of the Civil Service Rules is hereby amended by adding thereto a new paragraph, numbered 4, to read as follows: "4. Positions assigned exclusively to Navy Communications Intelligence activities." HARRY S. TRUMAN
January 31, 1946
Other executive actions signed by Harry S Truman around this period.
The functions of the Surplus Property Administrator and of the Surplus Property Administration are hereby transferred, except as otherwise provided herein, to the chairman of the board of directors of the War Assets Corporation, and to the War Assets Corporation, respectively…
Harry S Truman Said Executive Order No. 9685 be amended accordingly, and all provisions of said order shall be deemed applicable to said plants and facilities of the Los Angeles Union Stockyards Company.
Harry S Truman The United States Civil Service Commission is directed to resume, as rapidly as its resources will permit, the announcement of open competitive examinations, and the establishment of registers of eligibles, for the purpose of certifying eligibles for regular probational…
Harry S Truman The Director of the Office of Defense Transportation is authorized and directed , through or with the aid of any public officers, Federal agencies, or other governmental instrumentalities that he may designate, to take possession and assume control of the said transportation…
Harry S Truman Executive Order 9472 of August 29, 1944 entitled "Establishing Certain Awards for the Merchant Marine," be, and it is hereby, amended as follows: 1. There shall be inserted between sections 3 and 4 of the said Executive Order 9472 a new section to read as follows: "4.
Harry S Truman Executive Order No. 7972 of September 15, 1938, prescribing regulations governing payment of losses sustained by officers, enlisted men, and employees of the United States while serving in foreign countries on account of appreciation of foreign currencies in their relation to…
Harry S Truman Exec. Order No. 9688 (Jan. 31, 1946), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9688-amending-schedule-b-the-civil-service-rules.
