Memorandum for the Secretary of Transportation
Subject: Designation of Officers of the Department of Transportation
By the authority vested in me as President under the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America and pursuant to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, 5 U.S.C. 3345 et seq., I hereby order that:
Section 1. Order of Succession.
During any period when the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary), the Deputy Secretary of Transportation, and the officers designated by the Secretary pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 102(e) to perform the functions and duties of the office of Secretary have died, resigned, or otherwise become unable to perform the functions and duties of the office of Secretary, the following officers of the Department of Transportation, in the order listed, shall perform the functions and duties of the office of Secretary, if they are eligible to act as Secretary under the provisions of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, until such time as at least one of the officers mentioned above is able to perform the functions and duties of the office of Secretary:
Associate Deputy Secretary of Transportation;
Under Secretary of Transportation for Security;
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration;
Federal Aviation Administration Regional Administrator, Southwest Region; and
Federal Aviation Administration Regional Administrator, Great Lakes Region.
Sec. 2. Exceptions.
(a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 1 in an acting capacity, by virtue of so serving, shall act as Secretary pursuant to this memorandum.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of this memorandum, the President retains discretion, to the extent permitted by the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, 5 U.S.C. 3345 et seq., to depart from this memorandum in designating an acting Secretary.
GEORGE W. BUSH
NOTE: This memorandum was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on May 9.
George W. Bush, Memorandum on Designation of Officers of the Department of Transportation Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/214482