    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [March 19, 2002]
    [Page 752]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Memorandum on Designation of Officers of the Department of Justice
    March 19, 2002

    Memorandum for the Attorney General

    Subject: Designation of Officers of the Department of Justice

        By the authority vested in me as President under the Constitution
    and the laws of the United States of America, including the Federal
    Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, 5 U.S.C. 3345 et seq., I hereby order
    that:
        Section 1. Order of Succession.
        During any period when the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney
    General, the Associate Attorney General, and the officers designated by
    the Attorney General pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 508 to act as Attorney
    General, have died, resigned, or otherwise become unable to perform the
    functions and duties of the office of Attorney General, the following
    officers of the Department of Justice, in the order listed, shall
    perform the functions and duties of the office of Attorney General, if
    they are eligible to act as Attorney General under the Federal Vacancies
    Reform Act of 1998, until such time as at least one of the officers
    mentioned above is able to perform the functions and duties of the
    office of Attorney General:
        United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York;
        United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia;
        United States Attorney for the District of Utah; and
        United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas.
        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 Attorney
    General pursuant to this memorandum.
        (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of this memorandum, the President
    retains discretion, to the extent permitted by the Federal Vacancies
    Reform Act of 1998, 5 U.S.C. 3345 et seq., to depart from this
    memorandum in designating an acting Attorney General.

                                                              George W. Bush

    Note: This memorandum was released by the Office of the Press Secretary
    on May 9. An original was not available for verification of the content
    of this memorandum.