Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of the Treasury

2016-08-17Executive Order 13735
Signed by: Barack Obama
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Headline: Establishes Order of Succession for Department of the Treasury

What it does: The Department of the Treasury must follow the listed order of officials to serve as Acting Secretary when both the Secretary and Deputy are unable.

Real World Impact:
  • Determines who leads the Treasury when Secretary and Deputy are both unavailable.
  • Prevents officials serving only in acting roles from becoming Acting Secretary.
  • Allows the President to designate a different acting Secretary despite the list.
Topics: department succession, government leadership, continuity planning, federal administration

Summary

This order sets who will serve as Acting Secretary of the Department of the Treasury if both the Secretary and Deputy Secretary die, resign, or cannot perform their duties. It lists the succession: Under Secretaries; the General Counsel; Deputy Under Secretaries and Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretaries; followed by specific officers such as the Chief of Staff and principal Treasury and Internal Revenue Service commissioners.

The order excludes officials serving only in acting roles from succession, preserves the President's discretion to choose an acting Secretary, revokes a prior succession order and memorandum, and says it creates no enforceable legal rights.

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