Executive Order 10266 Constitutional Friction / Overreach (-0.19)

Executive Order 10266—Suspension of Certain Provisions of the Officer Personnel Act of 1947, as Amended, Which Relate to Officers of the Navy and Marine Corps

•

Saturday, June 30, 1951

•

1 min read (274 words)

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

This executive order, signed by President Harry S Truman on 1951-06-30, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Suspension of Certain Provisions of the Officer Personnel Act of 1947, as Amended, Which Relate to Officers of the Navy and Marine Corps." It outlines operative directives for executive department officers, delegating enforcement responsibilities and establishing official governance guidelines.

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

▪ Formal executive instruction issued by the President establishing official administrative policy on Suspension of Certain Provisions of the Officer Personnel Act of 1947, as Amended, Which Relate to Officers of the Navy and Marine Corps.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants

Total Words

274

1,596 characters

Estimated Read Time

1 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

24.9

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

-0.19

Framers' Alignment index

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 10266, Harry S Truman (Jun 30, 1951). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10266-suspension-certain-provisions-the-officer-personnel-act-1947-amended.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

By virtue of the authority vested in me by sections 301 and 426 (c) of the Officer Personnel Act of 1947, as amended, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. Except, as provided in paragraph 2 hereof, the operation of those provisions of Title III of the Officer Personnel Act of 1947, as amended, which relate to the distribution in grades, promotion by selection, temporary promotion, and discharge on second failure of selection for promotion, or officers of the grades of lieutenant, lieutenant (junior grade), and ensign of the Navy, and of corresponding grades of the Marine Corps, are hereby suspended for the duration of the national emergency proclaimed by Proclamation No. 2914 of December 16, 1950. 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 hereof, (a) the operation of those provisions of Title III of the Officer Personnel Act of 1947, as amended, which relate to the promotion of officers of the grades of lieutenant and lieutenant (junior grade) of the Navy, and of corresponding grades of the Marine Corps, shall not be regarded as suspended in the case of any officer whose name is on this date on a promotion list as the result of selection for promotion pursuant to the said act, as amended, and (b) the operation of those provisions of Title III of the said act which relate to discharge on second failure of selection for promotion of officers of the said grades shall not be regarded as suspended in the case of any officer subject to discharge on June 30, 1951, under such provisions if the officer requests such discharge. HARRY S. TRUMAN THE WHITE HOUSE, June 30, 1951