Executive Order 9835. While he would later call it one of his biggest regrets, Truman signed 9835—better known as the Loyalty Order—in March 1947 to try to forestall an even harsher measure from being enacted by the newly seated Republican Congress. Meant to expose “subversives”—shorthand for communists—in the federal government, the order called for an initial screening of all federal workers in a joint effort by the FBI and the Civil Service Commission.
