Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of the Interior
Signed: April 14, 2020
Published: April 17, 2020
Document Number: 2020-08392
đSummary
This executive order sets a new line of succession for who will serve as Acting Secretary of the Interior if both the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary are unable to serve (for example, due to death, resignation, or incapacity). It affects senior Interior Department officials by specifying which Senate-confirmed leaders will take over, in order: the Solicitor, then several Assistant Secretaries (Policy/Management/Budget; Land and Minerals; Water and Science; Fish and Wildlife; Indian Affairs; and Insular and International Affairs). It bars anyone who is only serving in one of those roles on an âactingâ basis from moving up to Acting Secretary under this order, and it preserves the Presidentâs ability to choose a different acting official when allowed by the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. It also cancels and replaces a prior succession order from 2001 (Executive Order 13244).
đźBusiness Impact
This order mainly affects businesses that depend on Department of the Interior (DOI) decisionsâoil & gas and mining on federal lands, renewable energy projects on public lands/offshore, grazing/timber, water users, and firms working with Fish & Wildlife, Bureau of Indian Affairs, or National Park concessionsâbecause it clarifies who can lawfully serve as Acting Secretary and therefore who can sign permits, leases, rules, and enforcement actions during a leadership gap. Compliance requirements donât materially change, but the order reduces the risk that major DOI actions are delayed or later challenged as unauthorized, creating an opportunity to keep projects moving if a vacancy occurs. Immediate actions: identify any pending or upcoming DOI approvals critical to your operations (leases, rights-of-way, ESA consultations, tribal agreements), confirm your points of contact and escalation path align with the listed succession roles, and build contingency time into project schedules while monitoring DOI leadership changes for shifts in priorities and decision speed.
Full Text
Executive Order 13915 of April 14, 2020
Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of the Interior
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 . Subject to the provisions of section 3 of this order, the officers named in section 2, in the order listed, shall act as and perform the functions and duties of the office of Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) during any period when both the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary of the Interior have died, resigned, or are otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the office of Secretary.
Sec. 2 . Order of Succession. (a) Solicitor of the Department of the Interior;
(b) Assistant Secretary of the Interior in charge of Policy, Management, and Budget;
(c) Assistant Secretary of the Interior in charge of Land and Minerals Management;
(d) Assistant Secretary of the Interior in charge of Water and Science;
(e) Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife;
(f) Assistant Secretary of the Interior in charge of Indian Affairs; and
(g) Assistant Secretary of the Interior in charge of Insular and International Affairs.
Sec. 3 . Exceptions. (a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 2 of this order in an acting capacity shall, by virtue of so serving, act as Secretary pursuant to this order.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of this order, the President retains discretion, to the extent permitted by the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, to depart from this order in designating an acting Secretary.
( printed page 21734)Sec. 4 . Revocation of Executive Order.Executive Order 13244 of December 18, 2001 (Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of the Interior), is hereby revoked.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
April 14, 2020.