[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 241 (Tuesday, December 15, 2020)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 81331-81332]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-27739]


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

[[Page 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.

[[Page 81332]]

                    (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.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    December 10, 2020.

[FR Doc. 2020-27739
Filed 12-14-20; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F1-P