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Executive Order 9839 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.33) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 9839—Transferring to the Federal Works Administrator Certain Functions, Powers, and Duties Relating to the Grand River Dan Project (PWA Docket Oklahoma 1097-P-DS)

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Monday, April 14, 1947
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3 min read (650 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (650 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

All functions, powers, and duties previously transferred by Executive Order No. 9373 of August 30, 1943, from the Federal Works Administrator to the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the Grand River Dam Project (PWA Docket Oklahoma 1097-P-DS), including the functions, powers, and duties of the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the said Refunding and Project Bonds, are hereby transferred to and vested in the Federal Works Administrator, to be exercised by him or by such person or persons as he may designate. 2.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

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 April 14, 1947, this order concerns Transferring to the Federal Works Administrator Certain Functions, Powers, and Duties Relating to the Grand River Dan Project (PWA Docket Oklahoma 1097-P-DS). All functions, powers, and duties previously transferred by Executive Order No. 9373 of August 30, 1943, from the Federal Works Administrator to the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the Grand River Dam Project (PWA Docket Oklahoma 1097-P-DS), including the functions, powers, and duties of the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the said Refunding and Project Bonds, are hereby transferred to and…

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, powers, and duties previously transferred by Executive Order No. 9373 of August 30, 1943, from the Federal Works Administrator to the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the Grand River Dam Project (PWA Docket Oklahoma 1097-P-DS), including the functions, powers, and duties of the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the said Refunding and Project Bonds, are hereby transferred to and vested in the Federal Works Administrator, to be exercised by him or by such person or persons as he may designate. 2.

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The said Refunding and Project Bonds and all contracts, records, and accounts used primarily by the Secretary of the Interior in the administration of any function, power, or duty transferred by this order or primarily relating thereto are hereby transferred to the Federal Works Administrator for use in the administration of such functions, powers, and duties. 3.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Financial Institutions & Monetary Authorities

Policy Areas & Topics

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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)
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"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.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
35 / 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

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 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
650
3,925 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
25.5
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.33
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

WHEREAS in accordance with a certain Settlement Agreement dates as of August 1, 1946, executed by and between the Secretary of the Interior and Grand River Dam Authority pursuant to the act of July 31, 1946, 60 Stat. 743, the Secretary of the Interior has returned possession and control of and conveyed to the Grand River Dam Authority the Grand River Dam Project (Licensed Project No. 1494), and has adjusted and settled certain accounts between the United States and the said Authority resulting from the taking and use by the United States of that Project; and WHEREAS in the administration of the Grand River Dam Project (PWA Docket Oklahoma 1097-P-DS) the Secretary of the Interior has accepted as a part of such adjustment and settlement certain Refunding and Project Bonds known as "Grand River Dam Authority 2 ½% Revenue Bonds, Series A", in the aggregate principal amount of $14,000,000; and WHEREAS the said Grand River Dam Project (PWA Docket Oklahoma 1097-P-DS) was transferred from the Federal Works Administrator to the Secretary of the Interior by Executive Order No. 9373 of August 30, 1943, under the authority of Title I of the First War Powers Act, 1941 and upon the expiration of that Title the functions, powers, and duties of the Secretary of the Interior with respect to that Project, including the said bonds, would by operation of law be vested in the Federal Works Administrator, who is custodian for the United States of all other revenue bonds of like character; and WHEREAS it appears that it would be in the interest of administrative convenience and continuity to effect an immediate transfer to the Federal Works Administrator of the functions, powers, and duties previously transferred to the Secretary of the Interior by the said Executive Order 93731 with respect to the said Grand River Dam Project (PWA Dock Oklahoma 1097-P-DS) and the contracts, records, and accounts relating thereto, including the said bonds:

NOW, THEREFORE, #now-therefore

by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the statutes of the United States, including Title I of the First War Powers Act, 1941, 55 Stat. 838, and in the interest of the internal management of the Government, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. All functions, powers, and duties previously transferred by Executive Order No. 9373 of August 30, 1943, from the Federal Works Administrator to the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the Grand River Dam Project (PWA Docket Oklahoma 1097-P-DS), including the functions, powers, and duties of the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the said Refunding and Project Bonds, are hereby transferred to and vested in the Federal Works Administrator, to be exercised by him or by such person or persons as he may designate. 2. The said Refunding and Project Bonds and all contracts, records, and accounts used primarily by the Secretary of the Interior in the administration of any function, power, or duty transferred by this order or primarily relating thereto are hereby transferred to the Federal Works Administrator for use in the administration of such functions, powers, and duties. 3. Nothing in this order shall be construed to derogate or affect (a) the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to continue the completion of the adjustment and settlement of accounts between the United States and the Grand River Dam Authority under the said act of July 31, 1946, and the Settlement Agreement executed in pursuance thereof, and under all other applicable statutes: or (b) the functions, powers, and duties of the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the project for the acquisition of an additional five feet of reservoir storage for the Grand River Dame Project (Federal List No. 584; N. I. R. A.) transferred by the said Executive Order No. 97-373 to the Secretary of the Interior from the Federal Works Administrator. HARRY S. TRUMAN

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

April 14, 1947

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 9839 (Apr. 14, 1947), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9839-transferring-the-federal-works-administrator-certain-functions-powers.