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Executive Order 9726 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 9726—Transfer of Fiscal Functions Relating to Lend-lease Matters from the Department of State to the Treasury Department

Harry S Truman Harry S Truman
•
Friday, May 17, 1946
•
3 min read (597 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (597 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

All functions with respect to the maintenance of accounts and other fiscal records relating to lend-lease and reverse lend-lease matters under the said act of March 11, 1941 (hereinafter referred to as the act), are transferred from the Department of State to the Treasury Department and shall be administered under the supervision and direction of the Secretary of the Treasury.

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
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Foreign Nations & International Entities
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 May 17, 1946, this order concerns Transfer of Fiscal Functions Relating to Lend-lease Matters from the Department of State to the Treasury Department. All functions with respect to the maintenance of accounts and other fiscal records relating to lend-lease and reverse lend-lease matters under the said act of March 11, 1941 (hereinafter referred to as the act), are transferred from the Department of State to the Treasury Department and shall be administered under the supervision and direction of the Secretary of the Treasury.

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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All functions with respect to the maintenance of accounts and other fiscal records relating to lend-lease and reverse lend-lease matters under the said act of March 11, 1941 (hereinafter referred to as the act), are transferred from the Department of State to the Treasury Department and shall be administered under the supervision and direction of the Secretary of the Treasury.

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The Department of State shall continue to administer all other functions relating to the administration of the act which are now under the jurisdiction of that Department. 2.

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In carrying out the purposes and provisions of paragraph 1 of this order, the Treasury Department: (a) Shall perform all necessary fiscal functions and maintain all necessary fiscal records and prepare all required reports pertaining to the act, except that, until such date as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget shall determine, the Secretary of State shall prepare for the President the reports required under section 5 (b) of the act.

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Shall furnish the Department of State with such information and reports concerning lend-lease operations as may be requested by such Department, including information as to the status of funds.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

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
47 / 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

Moderate Friction

Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.

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
597
3,662 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
17.8
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 the Constitution and the statutes, including the act of March 11, 1941, as amended, entitled "An Act further To Promote the Defense of the United States, and for Other Purposes" (55 Stat. 31), and as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. All functions with respect to the maintenance of accounts and other fiscal records relating to lend-lease and reverse lend-lease matters under the said act of March 11, 1941 (hereinafter referred to as the act), are transferred from the Department of State to the Treasury Department and shall be administered under the supervision and direction of the Secretary of the Treasury. The Department of State shall continue to administer all other functions relating to the administration of the act which are now under the jurisdiction of that Department. 2. In carrying out the purposes and provisions of paragraph 1 of this order, the Treasury Department: (a) Shall perform all necessary fiscal functions and maintain all necessary fiscal records and prepare all required reports pertaining to the act, except that, until such date as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget shall determine, the Secretary of State shall prepare for the President the reports required under section 5 (b) of the act. (b) Shall furnish the Department of State with such information and reports concerning lend-lease operations as may be requested by such Department, including information as to the status of funds. (c) In accordance with the request of the Secretary of State, shall make additional allocations to procurement agencies of the Government of available funds, and shall bill, collect, and account for funds from foreign governments and others, under the act. (d) After consultation with the Department of State, shall revoke excess allocations in the hands of procurement agencies and return such funds to the master account. (e) May act through the personnel transferred hereunder or through such other personnel of the Treasury Department as the Secretary of the Treasury may designate. 3. There is transferred to the Treasury Department so much as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget shall determine to relate primarily to the functions transferred by this order of the records, personnel, and property of the Department of State and of the unexpended balances of the funds of the Department of State available or to be made available for use in connection with the administration of the functions transferred by this order. 4. The Department of State shall provide the Treasury Department with two certified copies of all agreements related to lend-lease settlements and with two copies of all other documents and correspondence which in any way affect lend-lease accounting records. 5. The Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury shall from time to time jointly recommend to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget amounts by which lend-lease appropriations may be rescinded or placed in reserve. 6. All prior regulations, rulings, and directives relating to the functions transferred by this order shall remain in effect except as hereafter amended or revoked by the Secretary of the Treasury. To the extent authorized by law, the Secretary of the Treasury may issue such additional regulations and instructions as he may deem necessary to carry out this order. 7. All provisions of prior Executive orders and of prior instructions to any Federal agency in conflict with this order are amended accordingly. 8. This order shall become effective at the close of business of May 31, 1946. HARRY S. TRUMAN

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

May 17, 1946

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 9726 (May 17, 1946), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9726-transfer-fiscal-functions-relating-lend-lease-matters-from-the.