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Executive Order 9837 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service

Executive Order 9837—Regulations Governing the Transfer of Leave Between the Oreign Service and Other Government Agencies

Harry S Truman Harry S Truman
•
Saturday, March 22, 1947
•
2 min read (360 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (360 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

I hereby prescribe the following regulations governing the transfer of leave of persons assigned to the Foreign Service Reserve from other Government agencies and subsequently reinstated in such agencies, and of persons who resign from other Government agencies and accept appointments in the Foreign Service of the United States or who resign from the Foreign Service to accept appointments in other Government agencies: 1.

View all 4 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §3: Administrative Management & Civil Service
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
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 March 22, 1947, this order concerns Regulations Governing the Transfer of Leave Between the Oreign Service and Other Government Agencies. I hereby prescribe the following regulations governing the transfer of leave of persons assigned to the Foreign Service Reserve from other Government agencies and subsequently reinstated in such agencies, and of persons who resign from other Government agencies and accept appointments in the Foreign Service of the United States or who resign from the Foreign Service to accept appointments in other Government…

Constitutional Assessment: This action represents an orderly exercise of Article II administrative discretion, managing the internal machinery and personnel of the executive branch without abridging the ancient liberties of the people.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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I hereby prescribe the following regulations governing the transfer of leave of persons assigned to the Foreign Service Reserve from other Government agencies and subsequently reinstated in such agencies, and of persons who resign from other Government agencies and accept appointments in the Foreign Service of the United States or who resign from the Foreign Service to accept appointments in other Government agencies: 1.

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Any person coming with the purview of sections 934 (b) and 935 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 who elects to transfer his accumulated and accrued current annual leave from another Government agency to the Foreign Service or from the Foreign Service to another Government agency shall be required to transfer all of such leave up to the maximum amount of annual leave which may accumulate and accrue in the agency into which such person is entering as of the date of his entrance. 2.

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In computing transfers of leave effected under the provision of sections 934 (b) and 935 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946, five work-days of leave shall be regarded as equivalent to seven calendar days of leave. 3.

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The provision of section 935 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 that "in no event shall the amount of annual or sick leave of absence so transferred exceed the maximum amount of the annual or sick leave of absence which may be accumulated in either the Service or the Government agency to which such person is appointed" shall be construed to mean that in no event shall the amount of annual or sick leave so transferred exceed the maximum amount of annual or sick leave which may accumulate and currently accrue in either the Foreign Service or the Government agency to which such person is appointed, as the case may be. 4.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Uncategorized
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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

"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 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
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
360
2,076 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
23.1
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 sections 934 (b) and 935 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946, approved August 13, 1946, 60 Stat. 1028, 1029 and in the interest of the internal management of the Government, I hereby prescribe the following regulations governing the transfer of leave of persons assigned to the Foreign Service Reserve from other Government agencies and subsequently reinstated in such agencies, and of persons who resign from other Government agencies and accept appointments in the Foreign Service of the United States or who resign from the Foreign Service to accept appointments in other Government agencies: 1. Any person coming with the purview of sections 934 (b) and 935 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 who elects to transfer his accumulated and accrued current annual leave from another Government agency to the Foreign Service or from the Foreign Service to another Government agency shall be required to transfer all of such leave up to the maximum amount of annual leave which may accumulate and accrue in the agency into which such person is entering as of the date of his entrance. 2. In computing transfers of leave effected under the provision of sections 934 (b) and 935 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946, five work-days of leave shall be regarded as equivalent to seven calendar days of leave. 3. The provision of section 935 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 that "in no event shall the amount of annual or sick leave of absence so transferred exceed the maximum amount of the annual or sick leave of absence which may be accumulated in either the Service or the Government agency to which such person is appointed" shall be construed to mean that in no event shall the amount of annual or sick leave so transferred exceed the maximum amount of annual or sick leave which may accumulate and currently accrue in either the Foreign Service or the Government agency to which such person is appointed, as the case may be. 4. This order shall become effective as of November 13, 1946. HARRY S. TRUMAN

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

March 22, 1947

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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 12292—Foreign Service Act of 1980
Ronald Reagan • 1981-02-23
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 9837 (Mar. 22, 1947), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9837-regulations-governing-the-transfer-leave-between-the-oreign-service.