Executive Order 10901—Amendment of Executive Order 10501, Relating to Safeguarding Official Information in the Interests of the Defense of the United States

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the United States, and as President of the United States, and deeming such action necessary in the best interest of the national security, it is ordered as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 2 of Executive Order No. 10501 of November 5, 1953, is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 2. Limitation of authority to classify. The authority to classify defense information or material under this order shall be limited in the departments, agencies, and other units of the executive branch as hereinafter specified.

"(a) In the following departments, agencies, and Governmental units, having primary responsibility for matters pertaining to national defense, the authority for original classification of information or material under this order may be exercised by the head of the department, agency, or Governmental unit concerned or by such responsible officers or employees as he, or his representative, may designate for that purpose. The delegation of such authority to classify shall be limited as severely as is consistent with the orderly and expeditious transaction of Government business.

The White House Office

President's Science Advisory Committee

Bureau of the Budget

Council of Economic Advisers

National Security Council

Operations Coordinating Board

Central Intelligence Agency

Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization

Department of State

International Cooperation Administration

Department of the Treasury

Department of Defense

Department of the Army

Department of the Navy

Department of the Air Force

Department of Justice

Department of Commerce

Department of Labor

Atomic Energy Commission

Canal Zone Government

Council on Foreign Economic Policy

Development Loan Fund

Federal Aviation Agency

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Radiation Council

General Services Administration

Interstate Commerce Commission

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Aeronautics and Space Council

President's Board of Consultants on Foreign Intelligence Activities

United States Civil Service Commission

United States Information Agency

"(b) In the following departments, agencies, and Governmental units, having partial but not primary responsibility for matters pertaining to national defense, the authority for original classification of information or material under this order shall be exercised only by the head of the department, agency, or Governmental unit without delegation:

Post Office Department

Department of the Interior

Department of Agriculture

Department of Health, Education, and Welfare

Civil Aeronautics Board

Federal Power Commission

Government Patents Board

National Science Foundation

Panama Canal Company

Renegotiation Board

Small Business Administration

Subversive Activities Control Board

Tennessee Valley Authority

"(c) Any agency or unit of the executive branch not named herein, and any such agency or unit which may be established hereafter, shall be deemed not to have authority for original classification of information or material under this order, except as such authority may be specifically conferred upon any such agency or unit hereafter."

SEC. 2. My memoranda of November 5, 1953, and May 7, 1959 (24 F.R. 3777), and my memorandum of March 9, 1960 (25 F.R. 2073), are hereby revoked.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

THE WHITE HOUSE,

January 9, 1961.