Executive Order 13775 is the eleventh
executive order
In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of t ...
signed by U.S. President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
. Signed on February 9, 2017, the order changes the
line of succession
An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.[Department of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...]
(DOJ). This order specifically reverses changes made to the DOJ line of succession that former President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
made in executive order 13762.
Background
On January 13, 2017, during the
Presidential transition of Donald Trump
Planning for the presidential transition of Donald Trump, led by then vice president-elect, former governor Mike Pence of Indiana, began before Donald Trump won the United States presidential election on November 8, 2016, and became the pres ...
, then President Obama issued executive order 13762. This order changed the Department of Justice line of succession to the following:
Notably, this order removed the
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (in case citations, E.D. Va.) is one of two United States district courts serving the Commonwealth of Virginia. It has jurisdiction over the Northern Virginia, Hampton Ro ...
from the fourth position in the line.
Following the resignation of Attorney General
Loretta Lynch
Loretta Elizabeth Lynch (born May 21, 1959) is an American lawyer who served as the 83rd attorney general of the United States from 2015 to 2017. She was appointed by President Barack Obama to succeed Eric Holder and previously served as the Un ...
at the end of the presidential transition, Deputy Attorney General
Sally Yates
Sally Quillian Yates (born Sally Caroline Quillian; August 20, 1960) is an American lawyer. From 2010 to 2015, she was United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. In 2015, she was appointed United States Deputy Attorney General b ...
ascended to the position of Acting Attorney General, a position she would presumably retain until the confirmation of
Jeff Sessions
Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States Attorney General from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United States ...
, who was Donald Trump's nomination for the position.
On January 27, 2017, Trump signed
Executive Order 13769
Executive Order 13769, titled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States, labeled the "Muslim ban" by critics, or commonly referred to as the Trump travel ban, was an executive order by US President Donald Trump ...
, which placed limits on travel to the U.S. from certain countries, and by all refugees.
[Executive Order 13769 of January 27, 2017: Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States. Executive Office of the President. –8982. Published: February 1, 2017.] This provoked several lawsuits, including ''
Washington v. Trump'', that sought to challenge the constitutionality of the order. On January 30, Yates publicly refused to defend the order, and also barred all other DOJ personnel from defending the order as well.
Later that day Yates was fired for insubordination and the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia,
Dana Boente, was appointed to the position of Acting Attorney General.
On February 9 Trump issued Executive Order 13775 which changed the DOJ's order of succession. This order designated the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia as the fourth position in the line, the position it formerly occupied.
This Executive Order was revoked on March 31, 2017.
Provisions
The executive order is broken down into four sections:
*The new line of succession at the Department of Justice is now:
*Individuals who are only acting members of the positions outlined in the first section are not in the line of succession. The President retains the ability to depart from the line of succession in designating future acting attorneys general.
*Executive Order 13762 is revoked.
*The order should not be construed as creating any new rights or benefits.
See also
*
List of executive actions by Donald Trump
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
References
External links
Executive orders by TrumpOffice of the Press Secretary - Full Text of the Executive Order (as of February 9, 2017)Federal Register
{{Trump executive actions
2017 in American law
Executive orders of Donald Trump