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Executive Orders Historical Archive
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Executive Order 9913 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 9913—Terminating the Office of Scientific Research and Development and Providing for the Completion of Its Liquidation

Harry S Truman Harry S Truman
•
Friday, December 26, 1947
•
1 min read (251 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 1 min read (251 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

The Office of Scientific Research and Development in the Office for Emergency Management of the Executive Office of the President, established by Executive Order No. 8807 of June 28, 1941, is hereby terminated. 2.

View all 3 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 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 December 26, 1947, this order concerns Terminating the Office of Scientific Research and Development and Providing for the Completion of Its Liquidation. In the interest of the internal management of the Government, as follows: 1. The Office of Scientific Research and Development in the Office for Emergency Management of the Executive Office of the President, established by Executive Order No. 8807 of June 28, 1941, is hereby terminated. 2.

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 Scientific Research and Development in the Office for Emergency Management of the Executive Office of the President, established by Executive Order No. 8807 of June 28, 1941, is hereby terminated. 2.

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All personnel, property, contracts, records, and funds of the Office of Scientific Research and Development and all functions, powers, duties, rights, privileges, and authority of the said Office and of its Director, are hereby transferred to the National Military Establishment for the purpose of completing the liquidation of all the affairs of the Office of Scientific Research and Development. 3.

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Such further measures and dispositions as may be determined by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget to be necessary to effectuate the transfers provided for in this order shall be carried out in such manner as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget may direct and by such agencies as he may designate. 4.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Economy & Finance
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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

"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
47 / 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

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
251
1,516 characters
Estimated Read Time
1 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
15.2
College Level
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 Title I of the First Supplemental Surplus Appropriation Rescission Act, 1946 (60 Stat. 13), and the Supplemental Appropriation Act, 1948 (Public Law 271, 80th Congress) and as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered, in the interest of the internal management of the Government, as follows: 1. The Office of Scientific Research and Development in the Office for Emergency Management of the Executive Office of the President, established by Executive Order No. 8807 of June 28, 1941, is hereby terminated. 2. All personnel, property, contracts, records, and funds of the Office of Scientific Research and Development and all functions, powers, duties, rights, privileges, and authority of the said Office and of its Director, are hereby transferred to the National Military Establishment for the purpose of completing the liquidation of all the affairs of the Office of Scientific Research and Development. 3. Such further measures and dispositions as may be determined by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget to be necessary to effectuate the transfers provided for in this order shall be carried out in such manner as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget may direct and by such agencies as he may designate. 4. This order supersedes all prior Executive orders to the extent that they are in conflict with this order. 5. This order shall become effective at the close of business on December 31, 1947. HARRY S. TRUMAN

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

December 26, 1947

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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 9913 (Dec. 26, 1947), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9913-terminating-the-office-scientific-research-and-development-and.