United States Presidential Succession - Current Order

Current Order

This is a list of the current presidential line of succession, as specified by the United States Constitution and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 as subsequently amended to include newly created cabinet offices.

Key Democrat = (D)
Republican = (R)
Independent = (I)
# Office Current officer
1 Vice President of the United States Joe Biden (D)
2 Speaker of the House John Boehner (R)
3 President pro tempore of the Senate Patrick Leahy (D)
4 Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (D)
5 Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner (I)
6 Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta (D)
7 Attorney General Eric Holder (D)
8 Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar (D)
9 Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack (D)
-- Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank (D)
10 Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis (D)
11 Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius (D)
12 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan (D)
13 Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood (R)
14 Secretary of Energy Steven Chu (D)
15 Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (D)
16 Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki*
17 Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano (D)

*Eric Shinseki, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, has no known party affiliation.

Read more about this topic:  United States Presidential Succession

Famous quotes containing the words current and/or order:

    A man is a little thing whilst he works by and for himself, but, when he gives voice to the rules of love and justice, is godlike, his word is current in all countries; and all men, though his enemies are made his friends and obey it as their own.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    It is the international system of currency which determines the totality of life on this planet. That is the natural order of things today. That is the atomic, and sub-atomic, and galactic
    structure of things today. And you have meddled with the primal forces of nature! And you will atone! Am I getting through to you, Mr. Beale?
    Paddy Chayefsky (1923–1981)