Amending the Order of Succession in the Department of Homeland Security
Signed December 9, 2016·Barack Obama·81 FR 90667
Source
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Plain-language summary
Amends Executive Order 13286 to set a new order of succession for the Secretary of Homeland Security, listing eighteen officials—starting with the Deputy Secretary, followed by the Under Secretary for Management, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and other department leaders—who would act as Secretary if that office becomes vacant or the Secretary is unable to serve, provided they are eligible under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998. It specifies that an official serving in one of these listed positions only in an acting capacity cannot become acting Secretary under this order, and that the President retains discretion to name a different acting Secretary as allowed by that Act. It also revokes Executive Order 13442, which had previously set the department's succession order.
Not written or reviewed by a person. Read the full order below for anything you intend to rely on.
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Legal standing
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Claimed authority
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, 5 U.S.C. 3345, et seq., it is hereby ordered
Quoted from the order as written. Many orders cite nothing more specific than “the Constitution and the laws”; this reproduces what the order claims, not an assessment of whether it holds.
Disposition
Amends: EO 13286, February 28, 2003 Revokes: EO 13442, August 13, 2007 Revoked by: EO 14135 January 3, 2025
Compiled after the fact by the National Archives, so recent orders often have none yet. An empty disposition means no record, not no activity.
The order, in full
Executive Order 13753 of December 9, 2016
Amending the Order of Succession in the
Department of Homeland Security
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, 5 U.S.C. 3345, et seq., it is hereby ordered as
follows:
Section 1. Section 88 of Executive Order 13286 of
February 28, 2003 (“Amendment of Executive Orders, and
Other Actions, in Connection With the Transfer of
Certain Functions to the Secretary of Homeland
Security”), is amended by striking the text of such
section in its entirety and inserting the following in
lieu thereof:
“Sec. 88. Order of Succession.
Subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of this
section, the officers named in subsection (a) of this
section, in the order listed, shall act as, and perform
the functions and duties of the office of, the
Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary), if they are
eligible to act as Secretary under the provisions of
the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, 5 U.S.C. 3345
et seq. (Vacancies Act), during any period in which the
Secretary has died, resigned, or otherwise become
unable to perform the functions and duties of the
office of Secretary.
(a) Order of Succession.
(i) Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security;
(ii) Under Secretary for Management;
(iii) Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
(iv) Under Secretary for National Protection and Programs;
(v) Under Secretary for Science and Technology;
(vi) Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis;
(vii) Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection;
(viii) Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration;
(ix) Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
(x) Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services;
(xi) Assistant Secretary for Policy;
(xii) General Counsel;
(xiii) Deputy Under Secretary for Management;
(xiv) Deputy Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection;
(xv) Deputy Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration;
(xvi) Deputy Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
(xvii) Deputy Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; and
(xviii) Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.
(b) Exceptions.
(i) No individual who is serving in an office listed in subsection (a) in
an acting capacity, by virtue of so serving, shall act as Secretary
pursuant to this section.
(ii) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the President retains
discretion, to the extent permitted by the Vacancies Act, to depart from
this order in designating an acting Secretary.”
Sec. 2. Executive Order 13442 of August 13, 2007
(“Amending the Order of Succession in the Department
of Homeland Security”), is hereby revoked.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 9, 2016.Reproduced from the Federal Register plain-text record, signed December 9, 2016. Typesetting artifacts are removed; no wording is changed.