Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 43 / Friday, March 5, 2010 / Presidential Documents 10163 

Executive Order 13533 of March 1, 2010 

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 that: 

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: 

(1) Deputy Secretary of Defense; 

(2) Secretary of the Army; 

(3) Secretary of the Navy; 

(4) Secretary of the Air Force; 

(5) Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics; 

(6) Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; 

(7) Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller); 

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

(9) Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence; 

(10) Deputy Chief Management Officer, Department of Defense; 

(11) Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics; 

(12) Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; 

(13) Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller); 

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

(15) Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence; 

(16) Director of Defense Research and Engineering; 

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

of Defense, the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and 

Chemical and Biological Defense Programs, the Director of Operational 

Test and Evaluation, the Director of Operational Energy Plans and Programs, and the Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation; 

(18) Under Secretaries of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force; and 

(19) Assistant Secretaries of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, 

and General Counsels of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. 

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

subsection (a) 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) have the same appointment date, precedence shall 


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10164 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 43 / Friday, March 5, 2010 / Presidential Documents 

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 in an 

acting capacity, by virtue of so serving, shall act as Secretary pursuant 

to this order. 

(b) No individual listed in section 1 shall act as Secretary unless that 

individual was appointed 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 13394 of December 22, 2005 (Providing 

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

Sec. 4. Judicial Review. 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, 

March 1, 2010. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4884 

Filed 3–4–10; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3195–W0–P 


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