Presidential Succession
According to the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, the order of succession to the presidency is as follows:
Vice President
Joseph R. Biden Jr. |
Secretary of Commerce
Gary Locke |
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
|
Secretary of Labor
Hilda Solis |
President Pro Tempore
of the Senate
Robert Byrd (D-WV)
|
Secretary of Health
& Human Services
Kathleen Sebelius
|
Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton |
Secretary of Housing & Urban Development
Shaun Donovan
|
Secretary of the Treasury
Timothy Geithner
|
Secretary of Transportation
Ray LaHood
|
Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates |
Secretary of Energy
Steven Chu |
Attorney General
Eric Holder
|
Secretary of Education
Ame Duncan
|
Secretary of the Interior
Ken Salazar |
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Gen. Eric Shinseki |
Secretary of Agriculture
Tom Vilsack |
Secretary of Homeland Security
Janet Napolitano |
Current law specifies that the vice president, the speaker of the House, the president pro tem of the Senate and the secretary of state are next in line. Other cabinet officers line up according to the date their offices were established.