### §20241. Removal of officers from a list of officers recommended for promotion

(a) Removal by President.—The President may remove the name of any officer from a promotion list at any time before the date on which the officer is promoted.

(b) Removal for Withholding of Senate Advice and Consent.—If the Senate does not give its advice and consent to the appointment to the next higher grade of an officer whose name is on a list of officers approved by the President for promotion (except in the case of promotions to a grade to which appointments may be made by the President alone), the name of that officer shall be removed from the list.

(c) Removal After 18 Months.—(1) If an officer whose name is on a list of officers approved for promotion under section 20238(a) of this title to a grade for which appointment is required by section 20201(a) of this title to be made by and with the advice and consent of the Senate is not appointed to that grade under such section during the officer's promotion eligibility period, the officer's name shall be removed from the list unless as of the end of such period the Senate has given its advice and consent to the appointment.

(2) Before the end of the promotion eligibility period with respect to an officer under paragraph (1), the President may extend that period for purposes of paragraph (1) by an additional 12 months.

(3) In this subsection, the term "promotion eligibility period" means, with respect to an officer whose name is on a list of officers approved for promotion under section 20238(a) of this title to a grade for which appointment is required by section 20201(a) of this title to be made by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, the period beginning on the date on which the list is so approved and ending on the first day of the eighteenth month following the month during which the list is so approved.

(d) Administrative Removal.—Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Air Force, if an officer on the Space Force officer list is discharged or dropped from the rolls or transferred to a retired status after having been recommended for promotion to a higher grade under this chapter, but before being promoted, the officer's name shall be administratively removed from the list of officers recommended for promotion by a selection board.

(e) Continued Eligibility for Promotion.—(1) An officer whose name is removed from a list under subsection (a), (b), or (c) continues to be eligible for consideration for promotion. If that officer is recommended for promotion by the next selection board convened for that officer's grade and competitive category and the officer is promoted, the Secretary of the Air Force may, upon the promotion, grant the officer the same date of rank, the same effective date for the pay and allowances of the grade to which promoted, and the same position on the Space Force officer list, as the officer would have had if the officer's name had not been removed from the list.

(2) If such an officer who is in a grade below the grade of colonel is not recommended for promotion by the next selection board convened for the officer's grade and competitive category, or if the officer's name is again removed from the list of officers recommended for promotion, or if the Senate again does not give its advice and consent to his promotion, the officer shall be considered for all purposes to have failed of selection for promotion to the next higher grade.

(f) Applicability of Previous Executive Order.—Except as otherwise provided by the President by Executive order, any Executive order issued before the date of the enactment of this section relating to functions of the President under section 14310 of this title shall apply in the same manner to functions of the President under this section.

(Added Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title XVII, §1716(c), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 647.)

#### **Editorial Notes**

#### References in Text

The date of the enactment of this section, referred to in subsec. (f), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 118–31, which was approved Dec. 22, 2023.