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Executive Order 9933 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution

Executive Order 9933—Amending Executive Order No. 9805 Prescribing Regulations Governing Payment of Travel and Transportation Expenses of Civilian Officers and Employees of the United States When Transferred From One Official Station to Another for Permanent Duty

Harry S Truman Harry S Truman
•
Friday, February 27, 1948
•
2 min read (356 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 2 min read (356 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

2 of Executive Order No. 9805 of November 25, 1946, prescribing regulations governing payment of travel and transportation expenses of civilian officers and employees of the United States when transferred from one official station to another for permanent duty be, and it is hereby, amended to read as follows: Sec. 12 (a) Commutation of expenses—general.

View all 4 directives ↓
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Framers' constitutional debate ↓
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
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 February 27, 1948, this order concerns Amending Executive Order No. 9805 Prescribing Regulations Governing Payment of Travel and Transportation Expenses of Civilian Officers and Employees of the United States When Transferred From One Official Station to Another for Permanent Duty. 2 of Executive Order No. 9805 of November 25, 1946, prescribing regulations governing payment of travel and transportation expenses of civilian officers and employees of the United States when transferred from one official station to another for permanent duty be, and it is hereby, amended to read as follows: Sec. 12 (a) Commutation of expenses—general.

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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2 of Executive Order No. 9805 of November 25, 1946, prescribing regulations governing payment of travel and transportation expenses of civilian officers and employees of the United States when transferred from one official station to another for permanent duty be, and it is hereby, amended to read as follows: Sec. 12 (a) Commutation of expenses—general.

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In lieu of the payment of actual expenses of transportation, packing, crating, drayage, and unpacking of household goods and personal effects in the case of transfers between points within the continental United States, reimbursement shall be made to the employee on a commuted basis at rates per hundred pounds as fixed by zones In Schedule A which is attached to and made a part of these regulations.

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The amount payable shall be the product of the applicable rate and the net weight of household goods and personal effects actually shipped by carrier for the employee (within the weight limitation prescribed by section 16 hereof).

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Government bills of lading shall not be used.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Policy Areas & Topics

🏷️ Infrastructure & Transportation
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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: Supportive of Execution
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
38 / 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

High Friction

Creates friction with the Tenth Amendment by conditioning state grants, mandating local compliance, or preempting state police powers.

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

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
356
2,153 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
14.6
College Level
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the act of August 2, 1946, 60 Stat. 806. and in the interest of the internal management of the Government, it is ordered that section 12 of Executive Order No. 9805 of November 25, 1946, prescribing regulations governing payment of travel and transportation expenses of civilian officers and employees of the United States when transferred from one official station to another for permanent duty be, and it is hereby, amended to read as follows: Sec. 12 (a) Commutation of expenses—general. In lieu of the payment of actual expenses of transportation, packing, crating, drayage, and unpacking of household goods and personal effects in the case of transfers between points within the continental United States, reimbursement shall be made to the employee on a commuted basis at rates per hundred pounds as fixed by zones In Schedule A which is attached to and made a part of these regulations. The amount payable shall be the product of the applicable rate and the net weight of household goods and personal effects actually shipped by carrier for the employee (within the weight limitation prescribed by section 16 hereof). Government bills of lading shall not be used. (b) Commutation of expenses—temporary storage. In lieu of the payment of actual expenses of temporary storage of household goods and personal effects in the case of transfers between points within the continental United States and in addition to allowances under Schedule A, reimbursement shall be made to the employee at the commuted rate of $1.60 per hundred pounds for the first 30 days of storage or fraction thereof plus 40¢ per hundred pounds for the next 30 days or fraction thereof: Provided, however, that the amount of the reimbursement shall not exceed the amount actually paid by the employee for the storage in question. Any claim for reimbursement for temporary storage shall be supported by the original or certified copy of the receipted warehouse bill. This order shall become effective as of July 1, 1947, and shall be published in the Federal Register. HARRY S. TRUMAN

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

February 27, 1948.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (2)

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

Revokes Executive Order 11012—Providing for the Performance of Certain Functions Under Sections 1(a) and 1(b) of the Administrative Expenses Act of 1946
John F. Kennedy • 1962-03-27
Amends Executive Order 10196—Amendment of Executive Order 9805 Prescribing Regulations Governing Payment of Certain Travel and Transportation Expenses
Harry S Truman • 1950-12-20
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Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 9933 (Feb. 27, 1948), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9933-amending-executive-order-no-9805-prescribing-regulations-governing.