Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Homeland Security

This executive order establishes a clear, temporary line of succession for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to act as Secretary when the top four DHS leaders—the Secretary, the Deputy Secretary, the Under Secretary for Management, and any other officers designated to act as Secretary under law—are unavailable. Specifically, if those top officials have died, resigned, or cannot perform their duties, four DHS officials will serve in order of designation: (a) Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), (b) Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis, (c) Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, and (d) Region 3 Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The order also includes rules about who may or may not act under this order, clarifies that acting officials cannot automatically assume Secretary duties under this order, and gives the President discretion to depart from the order. The order revokes a prior succession order (EO 13753) and renumbers related provisions, while preserving general legal constraints and budget considerations. In short, the President is creating a backstop chain of leadership for DHS to ensure continuous operations if the department’s top four leaders are all unable to serve, while setting guardrails to ensure legal eligibility and clear responsibilities.