United States order of precedence

The United States order of precedence is an advisory document maintained by the Ceremonials Division of the Office of the Chief of Protocol of the United States which lists the ceremonial order, or relative preeminence, for domestic and foreign government officials (military and civilian) at diplomatic, ceremonial, and social events within the United States and abroad.[1][2] The list is used to mitigate miscommunication and embarrassment in diplomacy, and offer a distinct and concrete spectrum of preeminence for ceremonies.[3] Often the document is used to advise diplomatic and ceremonial event planners on seating charts and order of introduction. Former presidents, vice presidents, first ladies, second ladies, and secretaries of state and retired Supreme Court justices are also included in the list.

The order is established by the president, through the Office of the Chief of Staff,[2] and is maintained by the State Department's Office of the Chief of Protocol.[4] It is only used to indicate ceremonial protocol and has no legal standing; it does not reflect the presidential line of succession or the co-equal status of the branches of government under the Constitution. The Office of the Chief of Protocol posted an updated order of precedence on May 14, 2020.[3]

Details as of August 6, 2020

Except as otherwise noted, positions in the list are from the following two sources.[5][6]

1. President of the United States (Donald Trump)
2. Vice President of the United States (Mike Pence)
3. Governor (in their respective states)
4. Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (Nancy Pelosi)
5. Chief Justice of the United States (John Roberts)
6. Former presidents or their widows/widowers (ordered by term):
   1. Jimmy Carter (January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981)
   2. Bill Clinton (January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001)
   3. George W. Bush (January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009)
   4. Barack Obama (January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017)
7. Former vice presidents or their widows/widowers (ordered by term):
   1. Walter Mondale (January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981)
   2. Dan Quayle (January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993)
   3. Al Gore (January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001)
   4. Dick Cheney (January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009)
   5. Joe Biden (January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017)
8. Ambassadors from the United States (at the ambassador's post)
9. Ambassadors from the United States to international organizations who hold Chief of Mission authority (when at post)
10. Chargés d'affaires from the United States (ordered by assumption of office) (when at post)
11. Secretary of State (Mike Pompeo)
12. President of the United Nations General Assembly (Tijjani Muhammad-Bande) (when in session)
13. Secretary-General of the United Nations (António Guterres) (when at the United Nations)
14. President of the United Nations General Assembly (when not in session)
15. Ambassadors to the United States (ordered by the presentation of their credentials)
16. Associate justices of the Supreme Court (ordered by appointment):
    1. Clarence Thomas (October 18, 1991)
    2. Ruth Bader Ginsburg (August 10, 1993)
    3. Stephen Breyer (August 3, 1994)
    4. Samuel Alito (January 31, 2006)
    5. Sonia Sotomayor (August 8, 2009)
    6. Elena Kagan (August 7, 2010)
    7. Neil Gorsuch (April 8, 2017)
    8. Brett Kavanaugh (October 6, 2018)
17. Retired chief justices of the United States (ordered by appointment; currently none)
18. Retired associate justices of the Supreme Court (ordered by appointment):
    1. Sandra Day O'Connor (September 25, 1981 – January 31, 2006)
    2. Anthony Kennedy (February 18, 1988 – July 31, 2018)
    3. David Souter (October 9, 1990 – June 29, 2009)
19. Members of the Cabinet (in the order of the creation of the respective departments; note that the secretary of state already appears above; the creation date for the secretary of war is used as the date for the secretary of defense's position in the precedence. Cabinet-level appointees are ordered by presidential Cabinet precedence.):
    1. Secretary of the Treasury (Steven Mnuchin)
    2. Secretary of Defense (Mark Esper)
    3. Attorney General (William Barr)
    4. Secretary of the Interior (David Bernhardt)
    5. Secretary of Agriculture (Sonny Perdue)
    6. Secretary of Commerce (Wilbur Ross)
    7. Secretary of Labor (Eugene Scalia)
    8. Secretary of Health and Human Services (Alex Azar)
    9. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Ben Carson)
    10. Secretary of Transportation (Elaine Chao)
    11. Secretary of Energy (Dan Brouillette)
    12. Secretary of Education (Betsy DeVos)
    13. Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Robert Wilkie)
    14. Secretary of Homeland Security (Chad Wolf) (Acting)
    15. White House Chief of Staff (Mark Meadows)
    16. Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (Andrew R. Wheeler)
    17. Director of the Office of Management and Budget (Russell Vought)
    18. Trade Representative (Robert Lighthizer)
    19. Ambassador to the United Nations (Kelly Craft)
    20. Administrator of the Small Business Administration (Jovita Carranza)
    21. Director of National Intelligence (John Ratcliffe)
    22. Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (Gina Haspel)
20. President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate (Chuck Grassley)
21. Senate majority leader (Mitch McConnell)
22. Senate minority leader (Chuck Schumer)
23. Senate majority whip (John Thune)
24. Senate minority whip (Dick Durbin)
25. Current U.S. senators (by seniority; see Seniority in the United States Senate; note that the president pro tempore and Senate leadership appear above.)
26. Current state governors (of states other than that in which the event is held, by date of statehood or ratification of the Constitution):
    1. Governor of Delaware (John Carney)
    2. Governor of Pennsylvania (Tom Wolf)
    3. Governor of New Jersey (Phil Murphy)
    4. Governor of Georgia (Brian Kemp)
    5. Governor of Connecticut (Ned Lamont)
    6. Governor of Massachusetts (Charlie Baker)
    7. Governor of Maryland (Larry Hogan)
    8. Governor of South Carolina (Henry McMaster)
    9. Governor of New Hampshire (Chris Sununu)
    10. Governor of Virginia (Ralph Northam)
    11. Governor of New York (Andrew Cuomo)
    12. Governor of North Carolina (Roy Cooper)
    13. Governor of Rhode Island (Gina Raimondo)
    14. Governor of Vermont (Phil Scott)
    15. Governor of Kentucky (Andy Beshear)
    16. Governor of Tennessee (Bill Lee)
    17. Governor of Ohio (Mike DeWine)
    18. Governor of Louisiana (John Bel Edwards)
    19. Governor of Indiana (Eric Holcomb)
    20. Governor of Mississippi (Tate Reeves)
    21. Governor of Illinois (J. B. Pritzker)
    22. Governor of Alabama (Kay Ivey)
    23. Governor of Maine (Janet Mills)
    24. Governor of Missouri (Mike Parson)
    25. Governor of Arkansas (Asa Hutchinson)
    26. Governor of Michigan (Gretchen Whitmer)
    27. Governor of Florida (Ron DeSantis)
    28. Governor of Texas (Greg Abbott)
    29. Governor of Iowa (Kim Reynolds)
    30. Governor of Wisconsin (Tony Evers)
    31. Governor of California (Gavin Newsom)
    32. Governor of Minnesota (Tim Walz)
    33. Governor of Oregon (Kate Brown)
    34. Governor of Kansas (Laura Kelly)
    35. Governor of West Virginia (Jim Justice)
    36. Governor of Nevada (Steve Sisolak)
    37. Governor of Nebraska (Pete Ricketts)
    38. Governor of Colorado (Jared Polis)
    39. Governor of North Dakota (Doug Burgum)
    40. Governor of South Dakota (Kristi Noem)
    41. Governor of Montana (Steve Bullock)
    42. Governor of Washington (Jay Inslee)
    43. Governor of Idaho (Brad Little)
    44. Governor of Wyoming (Mark Gordon)
    45. Governor of Utah (Gary Herbert)
    46. Governor of Oklahoma (Kevin Stitt)
    47. Governor of New Mexico (Michelle Lujan Grisham)
    48. Governor of Arizona (Doug Ducey)
    49. Governor of Alaska (Mike Dunleavy)
    50. Governor of Hawaii (David Ige)
27. House majority leader (Steny Hoyer)
28. House minority leader (Kevin McCarthy)
29. House majority whip (Jim Clyburn)
30. House minority whip (Steve Scalise)
31. Current members of the U.S. House of Representatives (by seniority; see Seniority in the United States House of Representatives; note that the speaker of the House and House leadership appear above.)
32. Current delegates to the House of Representatives (ordered by seniority; if the same, by the territory's date of entering U.S. jurisdiction or alphabetically by territory):
    1. Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia (January 3, 1991)
    2. Gregorio Sablan of the Northern Mariana Islands (January 3, 2009)
    3. Amata Coleman Radewagen of American Samoa (January 3, 2015)
    4. Stacey Plaskett of the US Virgin Islands (January 3, 2015)
    5. Jenniffer González of Puerto Rico (January 3, 2017)
    6. Michael San Nicolas of Guam (January 3, 2019)
33. Current territorial governors (of territories other than that in which the event is held, ordered by territory's date of entering U.S. jurisdiction or alphabetically by territory):
    1. Governor of Puerto Rico (Wanda Vázquez Garced)
    2. Governor of Guam (Lou Leon Guerrero)
    3. Governor of American Samoa (Lolo Matalasi Moliga)
    4. Governor of the US Virgin Islands (Albert Bryan)
    5. Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands (Ralph Torres)
34. White House deputy chiefs of staff (ranked by date of appointment):
    1. Chris Liddell (Policy Coordination) (March 19, 2018)
    2. Anthony Ornato (Operations) (December 7, 2019)
    3. Dan Scavino (Communications) (April 21, 2020)
35. National Security Advisor (Robert O'Brien)
36. Senior advisors to the President (ordered by appointment):
    1. Jared Kushner (Strategic Planning) (January 20, 2017)
    2. Stephen Miller (Policy) (January 20, 2017)
37. Chief of Staff to the First Lady (Stephanie Grisham)
38. Chief of Staff to the Vice President (Marc Short)
39. Assistants to the President (ordered by appointment)
    1. Kellyanne Conway (January 20, 2017)
    2. Hope Hicks (September 12, 2017)
    3. Brooke Rollins (February 1, 2018)
    4. Peter Navarro (February 25, 2018)
    5. Larry Kudlow (April 2, 2018)
    6. Derek Lyons (June 6, 2018)
    7. Emma Doyle (February 2, 2019)
    8. Stephanie Grisham (February 2, 2019)
    9. Matthew Pottinger (September 22, 2019)
    10. Kristan King Nevins (September 24, 2019)
    11. Avi Berkowitz (November 1, 2019)
    12. John McEntee (February 2020)
    13. Alyssa Farah (April 21, 2020)
    14. John Fleming (April 21, 2020)
    15. Kayleigh McEnany (April 21, 2020)
    16. Nicholas Luna (April 21, 2020)
    17. Amy Swonger (June 5, 2020)
40. Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers (Tomas J. Philipson) (Acting)
41. Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (Mary Neumayr)
42. Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (Kelvin Droegemeier)
43. Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (Jim Carroll)
44. Chief of Protocol (Cam Henderson) (when with the president or for a White House event)
45. Ambassadors from the United States to international organizations who do not hold Chief of Mission authority (when at post)
46. Chargés d'affaires to the United States (ordered by assumption of office)
47. Former secretaries of state (ordered by term):
    1. Henry Kissinger (September 22, 1973 – January 20, 1977)
    2. George Shultz (July 16, 1982 – January 20, 1989)
    3. James Baker (January 20, 1989 – August 23, 1992)
    4. Madeleine Albright (January 23, 1997 – January 20, 2001)
    5. Colin Powell (January 20, 2001 – January 26, 2005)
    6. Condoleezza Rice (January 26, 2005 – January 20, 2009)
    7. Hillary Clinton (January 21, 2009 – February 1, 2013) (note that Hillary Clinton would appear above when in attendance with her husband, former president Bill Clinton)
    8. John Kerry (February 1, 2013 – January 20, 2017)
    9. Rex Tillerson (February 1, 2017 – March 31, 2018)
48. Former members of the U.S. Cabinet (ordered by term)
49. Former U.S. senators (ordered by leadership position, then by term; if same, then by date of statehood or ratification of the Constitution)
50. Former governors of the state or territory in which the event is held (ordered by term)
51. Former governors (of states other than the state in which the event is held, by date of statehood or ratification of the Constitution)
52. Former U.S. representatives (ordered by leadership position, then by term; if same, then by date of statehood or ratification of the Constitution)
53. Deputy secretaries of executive departments (in the order of the creation of the respective departments or presidential appointment as for Cabinet above):
    1. Deputy Secretary of State (Stephen Biegun)
    2. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury (Justin Muzinich)
    3. Deputy Secretary of Defense (David Norquist)
    4. Deputy Attorney General (Jeffrey A. Rosen)
    5. Deputy Secretary of the Interior (Katharine MacGregor)
    6. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture (Stephen Censky)
    7. Deputy Secretary of Commerce (Karen Dunn Kelley)
    8. Deputy Secretary of Labor (Patrick Pizzella)
    9. Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services (Eric Hargan)
    10. Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Brian D. Montgomery)
    11. Deputy Secretary of Transportation (Steven G. Bradbury) (Acting)
    12. Deputy Secretary of Energy (Mark Menezes)
    13. Deputy Secretary of Education (Mick Zais)
    14. Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs (James Byrne)
    15. Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security (Ken Cuccinelli) (Acting)
    16. Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (Henry Darwin) (Acting)
    17. Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (Derek Kan)
    18. Deputy trade representatives:
        1. Jeffrey Gerrish
        2. Michael Nemelka
        3. Dennis Shea
    19. Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations (Richard M. Mills, Jr.)
    20. Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration (Vacant)
    21. Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (Neil Wiley)
    22. Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (Vaughn Bishop)
54. Secretaries of the military departments (by creation order of branch):
    1. Secretary of the Army (Ryan McCarthy)
    2. Secretary of the Navy (Kenneth Braithwaite)
    3. Secretary of the Air Force (Barbara Barrett)
55. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Mark A. Milley)
56. Chairman of the Federal Reserve (Jerome Powell)
57. Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (Andrew Saul)
58. Heads of independent federal agencies at Level II of the Executive Schedule (ordered by creation date, if same, then by term)
    1. Director of the National Science Foundation (Sethuraman Panchanathan)
    2. Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Jim Bridenstine)
    3. Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (Mark Andrew Green)
    4. Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States (Matthew L. Wiener) (Acting)
    5. Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (Kristine Svinicki)
    6. Director of the United States Office of Personnel Management (Dale Cabaniss)
    7. Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (Sean Cairncross)
    8. Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Kathy Kraninger)
    9. CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (Adam S. Boehler)
59. Vice-chair and governors of the Federal Reserve (by length of service)
    1. Lael Brainard
    2. Randal Quarles
    3. Richard Clarida
    4. Michelle Bowman
    5. 2 seats vacant
60. Deputy Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (David F. Black)
61. Principal Deputy Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (Vacant)
62. Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (Christopher C. Miller)
63. Deputy heads of independent federal agencies at Level II of the Executive Schedule (ordered by creation date, if same, then by term)
64. Under secretaries of state and departmental positions of equivalent rank (ordered by departmental line of succession)
    1. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (David Hale)
    2. Under Secretary of State for Management (Brian Bulatao)
    3. Remaining under secretaries of state, ordered by date of appointment:
       1. Counselor of the United States Department of State (Ulrich Brechbuhl) (May 1, 2018)
       2. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment (Keith J. Krach) (June 21, 2019)
       3. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (Michelle Giuda) (February 5, 2019) (Acting)
       4. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs (Christopher Ashley Ford) (October 21, 2019) (Acting)
       5. Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights (Vacant)
65. Under secretaries of executive departments and departmental positions of equivalent rank, Treasurer of the United States, associate attorneys general, and Solicitor General (ordered as Cabinet above and then by departmental line of succession)
66. Heads of federal departmental agencies (ordered as Cabinet above and then as by departmental line of succession)
67. Former chairs of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (ordered by term; note that Colin Powell, who would otherwise appear in this list, already appears above as a former secretary of state)
    1. Hugh Shelton (October 1, 1997 – October 1, 2001)
    2. Richard Myers (October 1, 2001 – October 1, 2005)
    3. Peter Pace (October 1, 2005 – October 1, 2007)
    4. Michael Mullen (October 1, 2007 – October 1, 2011)
    5. Martin Dempsey (October 1, 2011 – October 1, 2015)
    6. Joseph Dunford (October 1, 2015 – October 1, 2019)
68. Vice Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (John E. Hyten)
69. Joint chiefs of staff (ordered by appointment):
    1. Commandant of the Marine Corps (David H. Berger) (July 11, 2019)
    2. Chief of Staff of the Army (James C. McConville) (August 9, 2019)
    3. Chief of Naval Operations (Michael M. Gilday) (August 22, 2019)
    4. Chief of Staff of the Air Force (Charles Q. Brown) (August 6, 2020)
70. Chief of the National Guard Bureau (Daniel R. Hokanson)
71. Commandant of the Coast Guard (Karl L. Schultz)
72. Combatant commanders of the Unified Combatant Commands of four-star grade (ordered by appointment):
    1. Cyber Command (Paul M. Nakasone) (May 4, 2018)
    2. Northern Command (Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy) (May 24, 2018)
    3. Indo-Pacific Command (Philip S. Davidson) (May 30, 2018)
    4. Transportation Command (Stephen R. Lyons) (August 24, 2018)
    5. Southern Command (Craig S. Faller) (November 26, 2018)
    6. Central Command (Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr.) (March 28, 2019)
    7. Special Operations Command (Richard D. Clarke) (March 29, 2019)
    8. European Command (Tod D. Wolters) (May 2, 2019)
    9. Africa Command (Stephen J. Townsend) (July 26, 2019)
    10. Space Command (John W. Raymond) (August 29, 2019)
    11. Strategic Command (Charles A. Richard) (November 18, 2019)
73. Heads of independent federal agencies at Level III of the Executive Schedule (ordered by creation date, if same, then by term)
74. Deputy heads of independent federal agencies at Level III of the Executive Schedule (ordered by creation date, if same, then by term)
75. Postmaster General (Megan Brennan)
76. Lieutenant governor (of the state in which the event is held)
77. Mayor (of the city in which the event is held)
78. Heads of international organizations when not at post (ranked by date of establishment)
79. Ambassadors or permanent representatives of foreign governments accredited to international organizations headquartered in the United States
80. Ambassadors from the United States to foreign governments (on official business in the United States or another country)
81. Chief of Protocol (when at the Department of State or at events outside the White House, otherwise appears above)
82. Ambassadors from the United States to international organizations who hold Chief of Mission authority (on official business in the United States or another country)
83. Ambassadors from the United States to international organizations who do not hold Chief of Mission authority (on official business in the United States or another country)
84. Career ambassadors
85. Deputy Assistants to the President (ordered by appointment)
86. Chief judges and circuit judges of the United States Courts of Appeals (by length of service)
87. Chief judges and district judges of the United States District Courts (by length of service)
88. Chief Judge and judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (by length of service)
    1. Scott W. Stucky (December 20, 2006)
    2. Margaret A. Ryan (December 20, 2006)
    3. Kevin A. Ohlson (November 1, 2013)
    4. John E. Sparks (April 19, 2016)
    5. Gregory E. Maggs (January 29, 2018)
89. Chief Judge and judges of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (by length of service)
    1. Coral Wong Pietsch (June 28, 2012)
    2. Margaret Bartley (June 28, 2012)
    3. William S. Greenberg (December 28, 2012)
    4. Michael P. Allen (August 3, 2017)
    5. Amanda Meredith (August 3, 2017)
    6. Joseph Toth (August 3, 2017)
    7. Joseph L. Falvey Jr. (April 26, 2018)
    8. Scott J. Laurer (July 23, 2020)
90. Chief Judge and judges of the United States Tax Court (by length of service)
91. Chargés d'affaires from the United States (ordered by assumption of office)
92. Under secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force (ordered by date of appointment)
    1. Under Secretary of the Air Force (Matthew Donovan) (August 3, 2017)
    2. Under Secretary of the Army (James E. McPherson) (March 25, 2020)
    3. Under Secretary of the Navy (Vacant)
93. Assistant secretaries (ordered as Cabinet above and then as by departmental line of succession)
94. Chiefs of staff to heads of executive departments (ordered as Cabinet above and then as by departmental line of succession)
95. ambassadors-at-large (ordered as Cabinet above and then as by departmental line of succession)
96. Special envoys/representatives (ordered as Cabinet above and then as by departmental line of succession)
97. assistant attorneys general ((ordered by departmental line of succession)
98. Legal advisers of executive departments (ordered as Cabinet above and then as by departmental line of succession)
99. Special Assistants to the President, including the White House social secretary and senior directors of the National Security Council (ranked by date of appointment)
100. Heads of independent federal agencies at Level IV of the Executive Schedule (ordered by creation date, if same, then by term)
     1. Director of the Selective Service System (Don Benton)
     2. Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (Jelena McWilliams)
     3. Chairman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights (Catherine E. Lhamon)
     4. Chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission (Robert G. Taub)
     5. President of the Inter-American Foundation (Paloma Adams-Allen)
     6. Commissioner of the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation (Christopher J. Bavasi)
     7. Chairman of the Federal Election Commission (Caroline C. Hunter)
     8. Chairman of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (Colleen Kiko)
     9. Special Counsel of the Office of Special Counsel (Henry Kerner)
     10. Director of the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (Richard S. Tischner)
     11. Chairperson of the Chemical Safety Board (Kristen Kulinowski) (Acting)
     12. CEO of the Broadcasting Board of Governors and Director of the International Broadcasting Bureau (Grant Turner) (Acting)
     13. Chairman of the Election Assistance Commission (Christy McCormick)
101. Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (David Bowdich)
102. Deputy heads of independent federal agencies at Level IV of the Executive Schedule (ordered by creation date, if same, then by term)
103. Assistant administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency
104. Assistant administrators of the United States Agency for International Development
105. Assistant trade representatives
106. Associate administrators of the Small Business Administration
107. Comptroller General of the United States (Gene Dodaro)
108. Members of the Council of Economic Advisers (ranked alphabetically)
109. Members of the Council on Environmental Quality (ranked alphabetically)
110. American ambassadors-designate (in the United States)
111. Mayors of U.S. cities (when not in own city; if multiple mayors present, rank by length of service)
112. Mayor of the District of Columbia (Muriel Bowser) (when not in own city)
113. Mayors of U.S. territories (when not in own city)
114. Vice chiefs of staff (ordered by appointment):
     1. Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force (Stephen W. Wilson) (July 22, 2016)
     2. Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps (Gary L. Thomas) (October 4, 2018)
     3. Vice Chief of Naval Operations (Robert P. Burke) (June 10, 2019)
     4. Vice Chief of Staff of the Army (Joseph M. Martin) (July 26, 2019)
115. Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau (Vacant)
116. Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard (Charles Ray)
117. Assistant secretaries and general counsels of the Department of the Army, Navy, and Air Force (by date of appointment)
     1. Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Manpower & Reserve Affairs) (Shon J. Manasco) (December 4, 2017)
     2. Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition) (James Geurts) (December 5, 2017)
     3. Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management and Comptroller) (Thomas Harker) (January 2, 2018)
     4. Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (Bruce D. Jette) (January 2, 2018)
     5. General Counsel of the Army (James E. McPherson) (January 2, 2018)
     6. Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management & Comptroller) (John P. Roth) (January 2, 2018)
     7. General Counsel of the Air Force (Thomas E. Ayres) (February 18, 2018)
     8. Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Installations, Environment & Energy) (John Henderson) (February 20, 2018)
     9. Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition) (William Roper) (February 20, 2018)
     10. Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) (R. D. James) (February 26, 2018)
     11. Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) (Gregory Slavonic) (June 11, 2018)
     12. Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller) (John E. Whitley) (September 26, 2018)
     13. Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Energy and Environment) (Alex A. Beehler) (January 10, 2019)
     14. Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) (E. Casey Wardynski) (January 16, 2019)
     15. General Counsel of the Navy (Garrett L. Ressing) (Acting) (March 7, 2019)
     16. Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Energy, Installations and Environment) (Todd C. Mellon) (Acting) (March 31, 2019)
118. Four-star military officers (in order of seniority: retired officers rank with but after active-duty officers)
119. Executive Secretary of the National Security Council (Joan Virginia O'Hara)
120. Officers of the U.S. Senate:
     1. Chaplain (Barry Black)
     2. Secretary for the Majority (Laura Dove)
     3. Secretary for the Minority (Gary B. Myrick)
     4. Secretary of the Senate (Julie E. Adams)
     5. Sergeant at Arms (Michael C. Stenger)
     6. Parliamentarian (Elizabeth MacDonough)
121. Officers of the U.S. House of Representatives:
     1. Chaplain (Patrick J. Conroy)
     2. Chief Administrative Officer (Philip J. Kiko)
     3. Clerk of the House (Cheryl Johnson)
     4. Sergeant at Arms (Paul D. Irving)
122. Three-star military officers (in order of seniority: retired officers rank with but after active-duty officers)
123. State senators (when in own state; ranked by length of service, when the same, by alphabetical order by surname)
124. State representatives (when in own state; ranked by length of service, when the same, by alphabetical order by surname)
125. Former American ambassadors/chiefs of diplomatic missions (in order of presentation of credentials at first post)
126. Chairmen or heads of other federal boards, councils and commissions not previously listed
127. Librarian of Congress (Carla Hayden)
128. Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (Lonnie Bunch)
129. Chairman of the American Red Cross (Bonnie McElveen-Hunter)
130. Deputy chiefs of Protocol (ranked by date of appointment)
131. Minister-rank officials assigned to foreign bilateral diplomatic missions in Washington, D.C.
132. Deputy under secretaries of executive departments (according to date of establishment of the Department; if more than one from a department, then as ranked within the department)
133. Principal deputy assistant secretaries of executive departments (according to date of establishment of the department; if more than one from a department, then as ranked within the department)
134. Deputy counsels of executive departments (according to date of establishment of the department; if more than one from a department, then as ranked within the department)
135. Two-star military officers (in order of seniority: retired officers rank with but after active-duty officers)
136. Deputy assistant secretaries of executive departments (according to date of establishment of the department; if more than one from a Department, then as ranked within the department)
137. Deputy assistant secretaries and deputy general counsels of the Army, Navy and Air Force (by date of appointment)
138. Directors of the National Security Council
139. American consuls general to foreign governments (at post)
140. American deputy chiefs of mission (at post)
141. Assistant chiefs of protocol
142. Minister-Counselor-rank officials assigned to foreign diplomatic missions
143. Chief Judge and judges, United States Court of International Trade (by seniority)
     1. Timothy C. Stanceu (March 10, 2003) (Chief Judge)
     2. Mark A. Barnett (May 28, 2013)
     3. Claire R. Kelly (May 28, 2013)
     4. Jennifer Choe-Groves (June 8, 2016)
     5. Gary Stephen Katzmann (September 15, 2016)
     6. Timothy M. Reif (August 8, 2019)
     7. M. Miller Baker (December 18, 2019)
     8. 2 seats vacant
144. Chief Judge and associate judges, United States Court of Federal Claims (by seniority)
     1. Margaret M. Sweeney (December 14, 2005) (Chief Judge)
     2. Thomas C. Wheeler (October 24, 2005)
     3. Patricia E. Campbell-Smith (September 19, 2013)
     4. Elaine D. Kaplan (November 6, 2013)
     5. Lydia Kay Griggsby (January 5, 2015)
     6. Richard Hertling (June 12, 2019)
     7. Ryan T. Holte (July 11, 2019)
     8. David A. Tapp (November 19, 2019)
     9. Matthew H. Solomson (February 3, 2020)
     10. Eleni M. Roumel (February 24, 2020)
     11. 6 seats vacant
145. One-star military officers (in order of seniority: retired officers rank with but after active-duty officers)
146. Directors of offices of executive departments
147. Consuls general of foreign governments accredited to the United States
148. Counselor-rank officials assigned to foreign bilateral diplomatic missions in Washington, D.C.
149. Members of the Senior Executive Service not holding previously listed positions (by date of appointment, unless ranked differently as determined by the respective executive department)
150. Members of other federal boards, councils, and commissions not previously listed
151. Desk officers of executive departments
152. First Secretary-rank officials assigned to foreign bilateral diplomatic missions in Washington, D.C.

Notes and references

1. Mary Mel French (2010). United States Protocol: The Guide to Official Diplomatic Etiquette. p. 15ff. ISBN 9781442203204.
2. "U.S. State Department Foreign Affairs Manual Volume 2 Section 320 "Precedence"". Retrieved December 13, 2015. Precedence Lists establish the order or ranking of a country's government, military, and, in some cases, civic leaders for diplomatic, ceremonial, and social events, at home and abroad. The president, through the Office of the Chief of Staff, establishes the United States Order of Precedence.
3. United States Department of State
4. "What Does the Office of the Chief of Protocol Do?". U.S. State Department. Retrieved June 25, 2009. 21. Maintain and update the United States Order of Precedence List.
5. "Protocol: Order of Precedence". Archived from the original on November 13, 2006. Retrieved July 15, 2009. Use this list when developing seating charts, speaking programs, and announcements.
6. "Order of Precedence". Archived from the original on April 17, 2009. Retrieved July 15, 2009. The following list is an abridged, unofficial version but conforms to established, customary rules of precedence.

Further reading

• Mary Mel French (2010). United States Protocol: The Guide to Official Diplomatic Etiquette. p. 15ff. ISBN 9781442203204.

External links

• Office of the Chief of Protocol from the U.S. State Department website
• Diplomatic List: Order of Precedence and Date of Presentation of Credentials (for foreign diplomats) from the U.S. State Department website