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Executive Order 9797 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.29) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 9797—Transferring to the Department of Commerce Certain Functions Relating to Air-navigation Facilities Outside the Continental United States

Harry S Truman Harry S Truman
•
Wednesday, November 6, 1946
•
4 min read (731 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 4 min read (731 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

There are transferred to the Department of Commerce (a) all facilities, property, equipment, and maintenance supplies (including components thereof and structures and equipment appurtenant thereto or used in connection therewith) of the War and Navy Departments relating to the care, control maintenance, and operation of air-navigation facilities (including airports and associated airport facilities) of the Untied States Government which (1) are located a t points in Alaska and elsewhere outside the continental limits of the United States but not in foreign territory, (2) are determined by the War or Navy Department, as the case may be, to be no longer required for military purposes, and (3) are determined by the Department Commerce to be…

View all 4 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners 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 November 6, 1946, this order concerns Transferring to the Department of Commerce Certain Functions Relating to Air-navigation Facilities Outside the Continental United States. There are transferred to the Department of Commerce (a) all facilities, property, equipment, and maintenance supplies (including components thereof and structures and equipment appurtenant thereto or used in connection therewith) of the War and Navy Departments relating to the care, control maintenance, and operation of air-navigation facilities (including airports and associated airport facilities) of the Untied…

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 Department of Commerce (a) all facilities, property, equipment, and maintenance supplies (including components thereof and structures and equipment appurtenant thereto or used in connection therewith) of the War and Navy Departments relating to the care, control maintenance, and operation of air-navigation facilities (including airports and associated airport facilities) of the Untied States Government which (1) are located a t points in Alaska and elsewhere outside the continental limits of the United States but not in foreign territory, (2) are determined by the War or Navy Department, as the case may be, to be no longer required for military purposes, and (3) are determined by the Department Commerce to be…

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The Department of Commerce shall perform, to the extent permitted by law, all acts necessary or incident to the consolidation, operation, protection, maintenance, and administration of the property transferred tin accordance with the provisions of this order by any or all the following means or methods: (a) by arrangement with the air carriers involved, (b) by assessing reasonable or suitable charges, and (c) by contract with a citizen of the United States as defined in Title 1, section 1, paragraph 13 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of1938, as amended (49 U. S. C. 401). 3.

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The functions transferred to the Department of Commerce hereby may be performed by the Secretary of Commerce through such agencies and personnel of the Department of Commerce and I such manner and subject to such terms and conditions as he shall determine. 4.

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The provisions of this order shall become effective with respect to the facilities and equipment at each location at such time or times as may be agreed upon between the Department of Commerce and the War Department or between the Department of Commerce and the Navy Department as the case may be. 5.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ National Security & Defense
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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 1 (Maximum Authority)
§

"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)

Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
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.

🛡️ High Constitutional Concordance
27 / 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

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

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates in close harmony with statutory authority and standard Article II supervisory execution.

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
731
4,529 characters
Estimated Read Time
4 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
28.8
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.29
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

WHEREAS certain air-navigation facilities, including airports and associated airport facilities, located in Alaska and elsewhere on territory outside the continental limits of the United States over which the United States exercises or claims sovereignty, can be utilized to material advantage in the operation of aircraft of the United States; and WHEREAS the rapid demobilization of personnel of the War and Navy Departments is resulting in the abandonment or placing in caretaker status of these facilities and WHEREAS large sums of public money have been expended in the construction of these facilities and the United States will suffer great loss if they are abandoned or not maintained in serviceable condition; and WHEREAS the use and operation of such facilities are necessary and desirable for the promotion and development of civil aeronautics in the interest of the United States:

NOW, THEREFORE, #now-therefore

by virtue of the authority bested in me by the Constitution and states, including Title I of the First War Powers Act, 1941 (55 Stat. 838), and as President of the United States, and in the interest of the internal management of the Government, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. There are transferred to the Department of Commerce (a) all facilities, property, equipment, and maintenance supplies (including components thereof and structures and equipment appurtenant thereto or used in connection therewith) of the War and Navy Departments relating to the care, control maintenance, and operation of air-navigation facilities (including airports and associated airport facilities) of the Untied States Government which (1) are located a t points in Alaska and elsewhere outside the continental limits of the United States but not in foreign territory, (2) are determined by the War or Navy Department, as the case may be, to be no longer required for military purposes, and (3) are determined by the Department Commerce to be now or likely to become reasonably necessary in connection with safe and efficient operation of United States civil aircraft; and (b) all functions relating to the care, control, maintenance, and operation of the facilities, property, equipment, and maintenance supplies transferred to the Department of Commerce hereunder. 2. The Department of Commerce shall perform, to the extent permitted by law, all acts necessary or incident to the consolidation, operation, protection, maintenance, and administration of the property transferred tin accordance with the provisions of this order by any or all the following means or methods: (a) by arrangement with the air carriers involved, (b) by assessing reasonable or suitable charges, and (c) by contract with a citizen of the United States as defined in Title 1, section 1, paragraph 13 of the Civil Aeronautics Act of1938, as amended (49 U. S. C. 401). 3. The functions transferred to the Department of Commerce hereby may be performed by the Secretary of Commerce through such agencies and personnel of the Department of Commerce and I such manner and subject to such terms and conditions as he shall determine. 4. The provisions of this order shall become effective with respect to the facilities and equipment at each location at such time or times as may be agreed upon between the Department of Commerce and the War Department or between the Department of Commerce and the Navy Department as the case may be. 5. The provisions of this order shall be applicable to loran or other sea and air navigation facilities now operated by the Coast Guard, nor to any functions of the Navy Department respecting such facilities. 6. In case of military necessity as determined by the Secretary of the Department from which the transfer is made, the War or Navy Department, as the case may be, shall have the right to take over immediately any facilities transferred hereunder together with any improvements made thereto and to make such alterations thereof as are necessary for military purposes. 7. Such further measures are dispositions as may be determined by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget to be necessary or appropriate to effectuate the provisions of this order shall be taken and carried out at such time and in such manner as the Director shall prescribe. 8. This order shall not be construed as affecting Executive Order No. 9709 of March 29, 1946, or as authorizing the duplication of any existing functions now performed by any other Government agency at the locations involved. HARRY S. TRUMAN

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

November 6, 1946

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

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

References Executive Order 11048—Administration of Wake Island and Midway Island
John F. Kennedy • 1962-09-04
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 9797 (Nov. 6, 1946), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9797-transferring-the-department-commerce-certain-functions-relating-air.