Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 241 / Tuesday, December 15, 2020 / Presidential Documents 81331 

Executive Order 13963 of December 10, 2020 

Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of 

Defense 

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the 

laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Vacancies Reform 

Act of 1998, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 3345 et seq., it is hereby ordered as 

follows: 

Section 1. Order of Succession. (a) Subject to the provisions of section 

2 of this order, the following officials of the Department of Defense, in 

the order listed, shall act as and perform the functions and duties of the 

office of the Secretary of Defense (Secretary) during any period in which 

the Secretary has died, resigned, or otherwise become unable to perform 

the functions and duties of the office of the Secretary, until such time 

as the Secretary is able to perform the functions and duties of that office: 

(i) Deputy Secretary of Defense; 

(ii) Secretaries of the Military Departments; 

(iii) Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; 

(iv) Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security; 

(v) Chief Management Officer of the Department of Defense; 

(vi) Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment; 

(vii) Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering; 

(viii) Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller); 

(ix) Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness; 

(x) Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; 

(xi) Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security; 

(xii) Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment; 

(xiii) Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering; 

(xiv) Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller); 

(xv) Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness; 

(xvi) General Counsel of the Department of Defense, Assistant Secretaries 

of Defense, Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation, Director 

of Operational Test and Evaluation, and Chief Information Officer of the 

Department of Defense; 

(xvii) Under Secretaries of the Military Departments; and 

(xviii) Assistant Secretaries of the Military Departments and General Counsels of the Military Departments. 

(b) Precedence among officers designated within the same paragraph of 

subsection (a) of this section shall be determined by the order in which 

they have been appointed to such office. Where officers designated within 

the same paragraph of subsection (a) of this section have the same appointment date, precedence shall be determined by the order in which they 

have taken the oath to serve in that office. 

Sec. 2. Exceptions. (a) No individual who is serving in an office listed 

in section 1(a) of this order in an acting capacity, by virtue of so serving, 

shall act as Secretary pursuant to this order. 

81332 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 241 / Tuesday, December 15, 2020 / Presidential Documents 

(b) No individual listed in section l(a) of this order shall act as Secretary 

unless that individual was appointed to an office for which appointment 

is required to be made by the President, by and with the advice and consent 

of the Senate, and that individual is otherwise eligible to so serve under 

the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, as amended. 

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of this order, the President retains 

discretion, to the extent permitted by law, to depart from this order in 

designating an Acting Secretary. 

Sec. 3. Revocation. Executive Order 13533 of March 1, 2010 (Providing 

an Order of Succession Within the Department of Defense), is hereby revoked. 

Sec. 4. General Provision. This order is not intended to, and does not, 

create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law 

or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, 

or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, 

December 10, 2020. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27739 

Filed 12–14–20; 11:15 am] 

Billing code 3295–F1–P 


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