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Executive Order 9841 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.33) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 9841—Termination of the Office of Temporary Controls

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Wednesday, April 23, 1947
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7 min read (1,342 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 7 min read (1,342 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The Office of Temporary Controls, established by Executive Order No. 9809 of December 12, 1946, shall be terminated and disposition shall be made of its functions according to the provisions of this order.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 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 23, 1947, this order concerns Termination of the Office of Temporary Controls. In the interest of the internal management of the Government as follows: PART I 101. The Office of Temporary Controls, established by Executive Order No. 9809 of December 12, 1946, shall be terminated and disposition shall be made of its functions according to the provisions of this order. PART II 201. The provisions of this Part shall become effective on May 4, 1947. 202.

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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The Office of Temporary Controls, established by Executive Order No. 9809 of December 12, 1946, shall be terminated and disposition shall be made of its functions according to the provisions of this order.

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The provisions of this Part shall become effective on May 4, 1947. 202.

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Functions of the Temporary Controls Administrator under the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, as amended, Executive Order No. 9809, and as other statute, order, or delegation are transferred as follows: (a) Functions with respect to rent control are transferred to the Housing Expediter and shall be performed by him or subject to his direction and control, by such officers or agencies of the Government as he may designate.

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Functions with respect to price control over rice are transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture and shall be performed by him or, subject to his direction and control, by such officers or agencies of the Department of Agriculture as he may designate.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ 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
40 / 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

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
1,342
8,394 characters
Estimated Read Time
7 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
17.5
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.33
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

WHEREAS the Congress, in the Urgent Deficiency Appropriate Action, 1947, approved March 22, 1947, has declared its intent that the Office of Temporary Controls be closed and liquidated by June 30, 1947; and WHEREAS it is necessary to provide for the orderly liquidation of such Office and the disposition of its residual affairs:

NOW, THEREFORE, #now-therefore

by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statues, including the last paragraph of Title I of the First Supplemental Surplus Appropriation Rescission Act, 1946, approved February 18, 1946, Title III of the Second War Powers Act, 1942, as amended by the First Decontrol Act of 1947, section 201 (b) of the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, as amend, and Title I of the First War Powers Act, 1941, and as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered, in the interest of the internal management of the Government as follows: PART I 101. The Office of Temporary Controls, established by Executive Order No. 9809 of December 12, 1946, shall be terminated and disposition shall be made of its functions according to the provisions of this order. PART II 201. The provisions of this Part shall become effective on May 4, 1947. 202. Functions of the Temporary Controls Administrator under the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, as amended, Executive Order No. 9809, and as other statute, order, or delegation are transferred as follows: (a) Functions with respect to rent control are transferred to the Housing Expediter and shall be performed by him or subject to his direction and control, by such officers or agencies of the Government as he may designate. (b) Functions with respect to price control over rice are transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture and shall be performed by him or, subject to his direction and control, by such officers or agencies of the Department of Agriculture as he may designate. (c) Functions with respect to (1) subsidies, including determinations of the correct amounts of claims and the recovery of over-payments (but excluding premium-payment functions transferred under paragraph 302 (b) hereof); (2) applications for price adjustments filed under Supplementary Order 9 and Procedural Regulation 6 (adjustment of Maximum Prices for Commodities and Services under Government Contracts or Subcontracts, 7 F. R. 5087, 5444) to the Office of Price Administration; and (3) the interpretation and application of price and subsidy regulations and orders which affect the amount of subsidy payable; are transferred to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. 203 The following functions of the Temporary Controls Administrator are transferred to the Secretary of Commerce and shall be performed by him or, subjection to his direction and control, by such officers and agencies of the Department of Commerce as he may designate. (a) Functions of the President under Title III of the Second War Powers Act, 1942, as amended, vested in the Temporary Controls Administrator immediately prior to the take of effect of this Part. (b) Functions with respect to the determining, under section 6 (a) of the Strategic and Critical Materials Stockpiling Act, the amount of strategic and critical materials necessary to make up any deficiency of the supply thereof for the current requirements of industry. (c) Functions under section 124 of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended. (d) Functions under section 12 of the Act of June 11, 1942 (Small Business Mobilization Act). (e) Functions with respect to claims relating to the expansion of the capacity of defense plants when such expansion is alleged to have been undertaken at the request of the War Production Board or any of its predecessor agencies. (f) Functions with respect to claims relating to property requisitioned by the Chairman of the War Production Board or any of his predecessors. (g) Except as otherwise provided by statute or this or any other Executive order, all other functions of the Temporary Controls Administrator which were immediately prior to the taking of effect of Executive Order No. 9809 vested in the Civilian Production Administrator. 204. Executive Order No. 09705 of March 15, 1946 (as modified by Executive Orders No. 9762 and 9809) is revoked. 205 Any authority vested in the Temporary Controls Administrator in pursuance of Section 120 of the National Defense Act of 1916 (with respect to placing compulsory orders for products or materials) is withdrawn and terminated. PART III 301. The provisions of this Part shall become effective June 1, 1947. 302. All functions vested in the Temporary Controls Administrator by Executive Order 9809 not otherwise disposed of by statute or by this or any other Executive order are transferred to the Secretary of Commerce and shall be performed by him or, subject to his direction and control, by such officers or agencies of the Department of Commerce as the Secretary may designate. Such functions shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (a) Functions of the President under the Stabilization Act of 1942, as amended, vested in the Temporary Controls Administrator immediately prior to the taking of effect of this Part. (b) Functions with respect to premium payments under section 2 (e) (a) (2) of the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, as amended, insofar as such payments relate to copper, lead and zinc ores. (c) Functions with respect to the establishment of maximum prices for industrial alcohol sold to the Government or its agencies. (d) The liquidation of the functions of the Office of Temporary Controls and of the agencies thereof, except liquidation relating to functions specifically transferred to other agencies (by the provisions of this order or otherwise). 303. The Office of Temporary Controls is terminated. PART IV 401. The provisions of this Part shall become effective, respectively, on the dates on which functions are transferred or otherwise vested by the provisions of this order. 402. Functions under the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, as amended, transferred under the provisions of this order shall be deemed to include authority on the part of each officer to whom such functions are transferred hereunder to institute, maintain, or defend in his own name civil proceedings in any court (including the Emergency Court of Appeals), relating to the matters transferred to him, including any such proceedings pending on the effective date of the transfer of any such function under this order. The provisions of this paragraph shall be subject to the provisions of the Executive order entitled "Conduct of Certain Litigation Arising under Wartime Legislation," issued on the date of this order and effective June 1, 1947. 403. (a) The records, property, and personnel relating primarily to the respective functions transferred under the provisions of this order shall be transferred, or otherwise made available, to the agencies to which such functions are transferred. Such measure and dispositions as may be determined by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget to be necessary to effectuate the purposes and provisions of this paragraph shall be carried out in such manner as the Director may determine and by such agencies as he may designate. (b) In order that the confidential status of any records affected by this order shall be fully protected and maintained, the use of any confidential records transferred hereunder shall be so restricted by the respective agencies as to prevent the disclosure of information concerning individual persons or firms to person who are not engaged in functions or activities to which such records are directly related, except as provided for by law or as required in the final disposition thereof pursuant to law. 404. All provisions of prior Executive orders in conflict with this order are amended accordingly. All other prior and currently effective orders, rules, regulations, directives, and other similar instruments relating to any function transferred by the provisions of this order or issued by any agency terminated hereunder or by any predecessor or constituent agency thereof, shall remain in effect except as they are inconsistent herewith or are hereafter amended or revoked under proper authority. 405. As used in this order, "functions" includes powers, duties, authorities, discretions and responsibilities. HARRY S TRUMAN

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

April 23, 1947

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 9841 (Apr. 23, 1947), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9841-termination-the-office-temporary-controls.