Biden sets succession order for the Treasury Department

President Joe Biden signed a January 3, 2025 executive order setting who could act as treasury secretary if both the secretary and deputy secretary were unable to serve. The order placed Treasury under secretaries first by seniority, followed by the general counsel, deputy under secretaries and assistant secretaries by seniority, the chief of staff, the assistant secretary for management, the fiscal assistant secretary, the IRS commissioner, the Bureau of the Fiscal Service commissioner, and deputies at Fiscal Service and IRS. It relied on the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and revoked a 2016 Treasury succession order. The action mattered because Treasury leads tax administration, debt management, sanctions, financial regulation, and economic policy implementation.