Executive Order 9905 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
Executive Order 9905—Designating the Membership of the National Security Resources Board and Defining the Functions, Duties, and Authority of the Chairman of the Board
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 1947-11-13, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Designating the Membership of the National Security Resources Board and Defining the Functions, Duties, and Authority of the Chairman of the Board." 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
▪The Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Labor are hereby designed to be Members of the Board.
Exec. Order No. 9905, Harry S Truman (Nov 13, 1947). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9905-designating-the-membership-the-national-security-resources-board-and.
Official Document Text
Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)
By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes, and as President of the United States, and in order to assure the adequate and effective performance of the functions of the National Security Resources Board (hereinafter called the Board), established by the National Security Act of 1947 (Public Law 253, 80th Congress, approved July 26 1947), it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. The Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Labor are hereby designed to be Members of the Board. 2. The Chairman of the Board shall be responsible for the direction of the work and staff of the Board, including, among other things, the preparation and accumulation of factual data necessary to the formulation of plans, policies, and programs concerning the coordination of military, industrial and civilian mobilization, for the preparation of reports of such plans, policies, and programs, and for submission of such reports to the President by the Board. 3. Pursuant to requests by the Board, all Federal departments and agencies shall furnish the Board such information, reports, statistics and other data or documents in their possession or under their control or obtainable by them, all in the performance of their normal and lawful functions, and make for the Board such studies, investigations and reports, as are, in the judgment of the Board, necessary or desirable to fulfill the duties and accomplish the functions and purposes of the Board as prescribed by the National Security Act of 1947. HARRY S. TRUMAN THE WHITE HOUSE, November 13, 1947
