Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Homeland Security

Executive Order 14135 of January 3, 2025

Providing an Order of Succession Within 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, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 3345 et seq. (the “Act”),
it is hereby ordered that:

Section 1. Order of Succession. Subject to the
provisions of section 2 of this order, and to the
limitations set forth in the Act, the following
officials of the Department of Homeland Security, in
the order listed, shall act as and perform the
functions and duties of the office of Secretary of
Homeland Security (Secretary) during any period in
which the Secretary, the Deputy Secretary of Homeland
Security, the Under Secretary for Management, and any
officers designated by the Secretary pursuant to 6
U.S.C. 113 to act as Secretary have died, resigned, or
otherwise become unable to perform the functions and
duties of the office of Secretary, until such time as
at least one of the officers mentioned above is able to
perform the functions and duties of that office:

    (a) Administrator of the Transportation Security
Administration;
    (b) Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis;
    (c) Director of the Federal Law Enforcement
Training Centers; and
    (d) Region 3 Administrator, Federal Emergency
Management Agency.

Sec. 2. Exceptions. (a) No individual who is serving in
an office listed in section 1(a)-(d) of this order in
an acting capacity shall, by virtue of so serving, act
as Secretary pursuant to this order.

    (b) No individual who is serving in an office
listed in section 1(a)-(d) of this order shall act as
Secretary pursuant to this order unless that individual
is otherwise eligible to so serve under the Act.
    (c) If any individual who is serving in an office
listed in section 1(a)-(d) of this order is designated
by the Secretary pursuant to 6 U.S.C. 113 to act as
Secretary, they shall act as Secretary in accordance
with their placement in the order established by the
Secretary and not in accordance with their placement on
the list in section 1 of this order.
    (d) 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. (a) Executive Order 13753 of
December 9, 2016 (Amending the Order of Succession in
the Department of Homeland Security), is hereby
revoked.

    (b) 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
hereby struck in its entirety and the subsequent
sections are renumbered accordingly.

Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
    (c) 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,

    January 3, 2025.