Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Defense

The order sets an 18-tier succession chain for the Secretary of Defense, beginning with the Deputy Secretary of Defense and running through the Secretaries of the Military Departments, multiple Under Secretaries, Deputy Under Secretaries, the General Counsel, Assistant Secretaries, and ultimately the Assistant Secretaries and General Counsels of the Military Departments. Ties in rank within the same tier are broken by appointment date, then by the date each officer took their oath.

The order includes three key limits: individuals already serving in an acting capacity cannot use this order to claim the Secretary role; only Senate-confirmed officers are eligible; and the President retains discretion to depart from the chain. Executive Order 13533 of March 1, 2010, which previously governed DoD succession, is revoked.

Senior Senate-confirmed civilian officials within the Department of Defense, including the Deputy Secretary, Secretaries and Under Secretaries of the Military Departments, and a range of Assistant Secretaries and General Counsels whose order of precedence for acting authority is now formally ranked.

In any leadership gap at the Pentagon — vacancy, death, or incapacitation of the Secretary — there is now an unambiguous, legally grounded line of authority. This prevents disputes over who can issue binding decisions on defense policy, personnel, and military operations during a transition.