Executive Order--Change of Order of Succession

white house ^ | 11-4-2010 | white house

[freedommom]

Executive Order--Order of Succession Within the Department of Justice 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 that:

Section 1. Order of Succession. Subject to the provisions of section 2 of this order, the following officers, in the order listed, shall act as and perform the functions and duties of the office of Attorney General, during any period in which the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, the Associate Attorney General, and any officers designated by the Attorney General pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 508 to act as Attorney General have died, resigned, or otherwise become unable to perform the functions and duties of the office of Attorney General, until such time as at least one of the officers mentioned above is able to perform the functions and duties of that office:

(a) United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia;

(b) United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota; and

(c) United States Attorney for the District of Arizona.

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

(b) No individual listed in section 1 shall act as Attorney General unless that individual is otherwise eligible to so serve under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998.

(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 Attorney General.

Sec. 3. Executive Order 13481 of December 9, 2008, is revoked.

Sec. 4. 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.

BARACK OBAMA

[EDINVA]

see my #11 for a club about the realignment. It’s ALL political. (note that the former #1, while appointed US Attorney by Bush, had worked in Clinton’s DOJ)

[RegulatorCountry]

In the event of a so-called "decapitating" strike, if the role of Executive devolves upon the office held by an acting Attorney General, there is no provision to disqualify to my knowledge. Would the "eligibility clause" even be brought to bear in such an eventuality? Our present administration has been working hard to undermine it, as have deluded individuals otherwise opposed.

[RegulatorCountry]

So, we’ve got a change to the order of succession, to the office of Attorney General, which is in the line of Presidential succession.

Is there any other office in the line of succession, that is filled solely via political appointment?

My antennae just got perked up quite a bit if there isn’t.

[Cheburashka]

Thank you. I always find it interesting to hear different people’s opinions on how our government works.

[EDINVA]

Upthread there’s a post stating that an “ACTING” AG is not in the line of succession. That post states that whoever is in that line has to be nominated by the POTUS and approved by the Senate. However, experts challenge the clarity of the language of the most recently enacted succession act.

As a practical matter, the VPOTUS would be sworn in immediately, then another appointed and confirmed soon after to fill that position.

There are few occasions where much of the line of succession could be eliminated simultaneously (absent a larger catastrophe in or near DC). The State of the Union address to Congress and the Presidential Inaugural come to mind. That is the reason that a Member of Congress is always hidden away during the SOTU. (I understand there’s at least one Justice who won’t attend the SOTU in ‘11)

So far in US history, thank God, only a VPOTUS has actually ever moved into the Office of POTUS. So, the latest EO is not likely to ever put the DOJ successor into the White House.