Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Defense

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.

    (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.