ExecutiveOrdersEO
MemoMemorandumTrump 45 · R

Presidential Memorandum

Providing an Order of Succession Within the Office of Personnel Management

This memorandum establishes a formal order of succession for the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director position, listing seven specific OPM officials who would serve as acting Director if both the Director and Deputy Director become unavailable. It revokes a 2016 Obama-era memorandum on the same subject and preserves presidential discretion to depart from this succession order.

Federal Register Open PDF 85 FR 81775

Impact dates

  1. Publication in Federal Register

Key directives

  • Establish order of succession: Chief of Staff, General Counsel, Associate Director Employee Services, Chief Management Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Associate Director Retirement Services, then other Associate Directors by appointment date
  • Exclude acting officials from succession by virtue of their acting status
  • Require eligibility under Federal Vacancies Reform Act
  • Preserve presidential discretion to depart from this order
  • Revoke August 12, 2016 memorandum
  • Publish in Federal Register

Who is ordered

Timeline

Immediate

  • Revocation of August 12, 2016 memorandum takes effect
  • New succession order takes effect upon publication

Near term (90d)

  • Publication in Federal Register

Long term

  • Establishes permanent succession framework for OPM leadership continuity

Risks & tensions

  • Revocation of 2016 memorandum may reflect transition-period positioning given December 2020 timing
  • Presidential discretion clause (Sec. 2(c)) limits practical binding effect of the ordered succession
  • Acting capacity exclusion (Sec. 2(a)) creates potential gap if multiple top positions are filled by acting officials
Presidential Memorandum: Providing an Order of Succession Within the Office of Personnel Management · Executive Orders