Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of the Treasury

This executive order establishes a new line of succession for the Secretary of the Treasury, specifying which officials would assume the role if both the Secretary and Deputy Secretary are unable to serve. It revokes the Obama-era succession order from 2016 and adds several positions including the IRS Commissioner and Bureau of the Fiscal Service officials that were not in the previous order.

Federal Register Open PDF 90 FR 2583

Impact dates

Aug 12, 2016
Revoke Executive Order 13735 (August 12, 2016)

Key directives

Establish order of succession for Secretary of Treasury with 10 ranked positions
Disqualify acting officials from ascending to Secretary via this order
Require eligibility under Federal Vacancies Reform Act for succession
Preserve presidential discretion to depart from this order
Revoke Executive Order 13735 (August 12, 2016)

Timeline

Immediate

EO 13735 revoked
new succession order takes effect

Near term (90d)

—

Long term

Succession plan remains in place for future vacancies

Risks & tensions

Lowers threshold for IRS Commissioner to potentially assume Treasury Secretary role—politically sensitive given IRS's contested public standing
Inclusion of Bureau of the Fiscal Service deputies reflects operational prioritization but may raise questions about appropriateness of non-Senate-confirmed roles in succession
Presidential discretion clause (Sec. 2(c)) preserves flexibility but creates uncertainty about when this order would actually be followed versus overridden