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Executive Orders Historical Archive
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Executive Order 9739 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process

Executive Order 9739—Prescribing Regulations Governing the Payment of Expenses of Transportation of Civilian Officers and Employees Transferred Incident to the Return of Departmental Functions to the Seat of Government

Harry S Truman Harry S Truman
•
Thursday, June 20, 1946
•
1 min read (258 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 1 min read (258 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The provisions of Executive Order No. 8588 of November 7, 1940, as amended, prescribing regulations governing the payment of expenses of transportation of household goods and personal effects of certain civilian officers and employees of the United States, and the provisions of Part II of Executive Order No. 9587 of July 6, 1945, prescribing regulations governing the payment of expenses of transportation of the immediate families of certain civilian officers and employees of the Government, are hereby made applicable with respect to the payment of expenses of transportation of civilian officers and employees incident to the return of departmental functions to the seat of government as authorized by the said Second Deficiency Appropriation…

View all 2 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
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 June 20, 1946, this order concerns Prescribing Regulations Governing the Payment of Expenses of Transportation of Civilian Officers and Employees Transferred Incident to the Return of Departmental Functions to the Seat of Government. The provisions of Executive Order No. 8588 of November 7, 1940, as amended, prescribing regulations governing the payment of expenses of transportation of household goods and personal effects of certain civilian officers and employees of the United States, and the provisions of Part II of Executive Order No. 9587 of July 6, 1945, prescribing regulations governing the payment of expenses of transportation of the…

Constitutional Assessment: Evaluated against the Fifth Amendment, this action touches upon property or economic rights. An early statesman would insist upon strict adherence to due process of law and the constitutional guarantee that private holdings shall not be encumbered or taken for public purposes without just compensation and lawful process.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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The provisions of Executive Order No. 8588 of November 7, 1940, as amended, prescribing regulations governing the payment of expenses of transportation of household goods and personal effects of certain civilian officers and employees of the United States, and the provisions of Part II of Executive Order No. 9587 of July 6, 1945, prescribing regulations governing the payment of expenses of transportation of the immediate families of certain civilian officers and employees of the Government, are hereby made applicable with respect to the payment of expenses of transportation of civilian officers and employees incident to the return of departmental functions to the seat of government as authorized by the said Second Deficiency Appropriation…

▪

With respect to the said employees transferred to the seat of government prior to approval of the said Act, the provisions of the Act shall apply only to those whose positions were transferred to the seat of government subsequent to October 11, 1944.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

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

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Infrastructure & Transportation
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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

"A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government." — Federalist No. 70 (1788)

Hamilton would view this directive as the natural and indispensable functioning of administrative leadership. Without the power to coordinate agencies, manage personnel, and resolve operational ambiguities, the modern presidency would be reduced to an impotent figurehead.

Hamiltonian Stance: Defends Vigor & Dispatch
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The purse and the sword ought never to be in the same hands... nor the liberties of the citizen placed at the pleasure of a single magistrate." — Virginia Ratifying Convention (1788)

George Mason and the Anti-Federalists would sound a fierce warning. They feared that Article II would inevitably evolve into an elective monarchy. When an executive order impacts private rights, property, or civil liberties without individualized judicial process, Mason would see their darkest predictions verified.

Anti-Federalist Stance: High Bill of Rights Scrutiny
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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
30 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Low Friction

Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.

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

Low Friction

Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.

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
258
1,643 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
19.4
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 and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the Second Deficiency Appropriation Act, 1946, approved May 18, 1946 (Public Law 384-79th Congress), under the heading "Federal Works Agency-Public Buildings Administration," it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. The provisions of Executive Order No. 8588 of November 7, 1940, as amended, prescribing regulations governing the payment of expenses of transportation of household goods and personal effects of certain civilian officers and employees of the United States, and the provisions of Part II of Executive Order No. 9587 of July 6, 1945, prescribing regulations governing the payment of expenses of transportation of the immediate families of certain civilian officers and employees of the Government, are hereby made applicable with respect to the payment of expenses of transportation of civilian officers and employees incident to the return of departmental functions to the seat of government as authorized by the said Second Deficiency Appropriation Act, 1946: Provided, That the weight limitation on household effects and other personal property of such officers and employees shall be 7,000 pounds gross if uncrated, instead of 5,000 pounds, and 8,750 pounds gross if crated, instead of 6,250 pounds. SECTION 2. With respect to the said employees transferred to the seat of government prior to approval of the said Act, the provisions of the Act shall apply only to those whose positions were transferred to the seat of government subsequent to October 11, 1944. This order shall be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER. HARRY S. TRUMAN

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

June 20, 1946

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

Revokes Executive Order 9834—Regulations Governing the Payment of Expenses of Transportation of Civilian Officers and Employees Transferred to the Return of Departmental Functions to the Seat of Government
Harry S Truman • 1947-03-20
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 9739 (June 20, 1946), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9739-prescribing-regulations-governing-the-payment-expenses-transportation.