United States Secretary of Commerce

Head of the U.S. Department of Commerce

United States Secretary of Commerce

Seal of the U.S. Department of Commerce

Flag of the secretary

Incumbent
Howard Lutnick

since February 21, 2025

United States Department of Commerce
Style| Mr. Secretary (informal)
The Honorable (formal)
Member of| Cabinet
Reports to| President of the United States
Seat| Herbert C. Hoover Building, Washington, D.C.
Appointer| The president
with Senate advice and consent
Term length| No fixed term
Constituting instrument| 15 U.S.C. § 1501
Precursor| Secretary of Commerce and Labor
Formation| March 5, 1913; 112 years ago (1913-03-05)
First holder| William C. Redfield
Succession| Tenth[1]
Deputy| Deputy Secretary of Commerce
Salary| Executive Schedule, Level I
Website| Commerce.gov
The Commerce Secretary's office as it looked in the mid-20th century.

The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary reports directly to the president and is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States. The secretary is appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. The secretary of commerce is responsible for promoting American businesses and industries. The department states its mission as 'to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce of the United States'.[2]

Until 1913, there was one secretary of commerce and labor, uniting this department with the United States Department of Labor, which is now headed by a separate United States secretary of labor.[3]

The secretary of commerce is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule[4] with an annual salary of US$221,400, as of January 2021.[5]

The current secretary of commerce is Howard Lutnick.[6]

## List of U.S. secretaries of commerce

[edit]

Parties

Independent (1)   Democratic (21)   Republican (19)

Status

Denotes acting commerce secretary

No.  | Portrait  | Name[7] | State of residence  | Took office  | Left office  | President(s)

|
|
|
|
|
|

1 |  | William C. Redfield | New York | March 5, 1913 | October 31, 1919 |  | Woodrow Wilson
(1913–1921)
2 |  | Joshua W. Alexander | Missouri | December 16, 1919 | March 4, 1921
3 |  | Herbert Hoover | California | March 5, 1921 | August 21, 1928 |  | Warren G. Harding
(1921–1923)
| Calvin Coolidge
(1923-1929)
4 |  | William F. Whiting | Massachusetts | August 22, 1928 | March 4, 1929
5 |  | Robert P. Lamont | Illinois | March 5, 1929 | August 7, 1932 |  | Herbert Hoover
(1929–1933)
6 |  | Roy D. Chapin | Michigan | August 8, 1932 | March 3, 1933
7 |  | Daniel C. Roper | South Carolina | March 4, 1933 | December 23, 1938 |  | Franklin D. Roosevelt
(1933–1945)
8 |  | Harry Hopkins | New York | December 24, 1938 | September 18, 1940
9 |  | Jesse H. Jones | Texas | September 19, 1940 | March 1, 1945
10 |  | Henry A. Wallace | Iowa | March 2, 1945 | September 20, 1946
| Harry S. Truman
(1945–1953)
– |  | Alfred Schindler
Acting | Missouri | September 20, 1946 | October 7, 1946
11 |  | W. Averell Harriman | New York | October 7, 1946 | April 22, 1948
12 |  | Charles W. Sawyer | Ohio | May 6, 1948 | January 20, 1953
13 |  | Sinclair Weeks | Massachusetts | January 21, 1953 | November 10, 1958 |  | Dwight D. Eisenhower
(1953–1961)
- |  | Lewis Strauss | New York | November 13, 1958 | June 30, 1959
14 |  | Frederick H. Mueller | Michigan | June 30, 1959 | August 10, 1959
August 10, 1959 | January 19, 1961
15 |  | Luther H. Hodges | North Carolina | January 21, 1961 | January 15, 1965 |  | John F. Kennedy
(1961–1963)
| Lyndon B. Johnson
(1963–1969)
16  |  | John T. Connor | New Jersey | January 18, 1965 | January 31, 1967
17 |  | Alexander Trowbridge | New York | January 31, 1967 | June 14, 1967
June 14, 1967 | March 1, 1968
18 |  | C. R. Smith | New York | March 6, 1968 | January 19, 1969
19 |  | Maurice Stans | New York | January 21, 1969 | February 15, 1972 |  | Richard Nixon
(1969–1974)
20 |  | Peter G. Peterson | Illinois | February 29, 1972 | February 1, 1973
21 |  | Frederick B. Dent | South Carolina | February 2, 1973 | March 26, 1975
| Gerald Ford
(1974–1977)
22 |  | Rogers Morton | Maryland | May 1, 1975 | February 2, 1976
23 |  | Elliot Richardson | Massachusetts | February 2, 1976 | January 20, 1977
24 |  | Juanita M. Kreps | North Carolina | January 23, 1977 | October 31, 1979 |  | Jimmy Carter
(1977–1981)
– |  | Luther H. Hodges Jr.
Acting | North Carolina | October 31, 1979 | January 9, 1980
25 |  | Philip Klutznick | Illinois | January 9, 1980 | January 20, 1981
26 |  | Malcolm Baldrige Jr. | Connecticut | January 20, 1981 | July 25, 1987 |  | Ronald Reagan
(1981–1989)
– |  | Bud Brown
Acting | Ohio | July 25, 1987 | October 19, 1987
27 |  | William Verity Jr. | Ohio | October 19, 1987 | January 30, 1989
28 |  | Robert Mosbacher | Texas | January 31, 1989 | January 15, 1992 |  | George H. W. Bush
(1989–1993)
– |  | Rockwell A. Schnabel
Acting | California | January 15, 1992 | February 27, 1992
29 |  | Barbara Franklin | Pennsylvania | February 27, 1992 | January 20, 1993
30 |  | Ron Brown | New York | January 20, 1993 | April 3, 1996 |  | Bill Clinton
(1993–2001)
– |  | Mary L. Good
Acting | Texas | April 3, 1996 | April 12, 1996
31 |  | Mickey Kantor | Tennessee | April 12, 1996 | January 21, 1997
32 |  | William M. Daley | Illinois | January 30, 1997 | July 19, 2000
– |  | Robert L. Mallett
Acting | Texas | July 19, 2000 | July 21, 2000
33 |  | Norman Mineta | California | July 21, 2000 | January 20, 2001
34 |  | Donald Evans | Texas | January 20, 2001 | February 7, 2005 |  | George W. Bush
(2001–2009)
35 |  | Carlos Gutierrez | Florida | February 7, 2005 | January 20, 2009
– |  | Otto J. Wolff
Acting |  | January 20, 2009 | March 26, 2009 |  | Barack Obama
(2009–2017)
36 |  | Gary Locke | Washington | March 26, 2009 | August 1, 2011
– |  | Rebecca Blank
Acting | Minnesota | August 1, 2011 | October 21, 2011
37 |  | John Bryson | New York | October 21, 2011 | June 11, 2012
– |  | Rebecca Blank
Acting | Minnesota | June 11, 2012 | June 1, 2013
– |  | Cameron Kerry
Acting | Massachusetts | June 1, 2013 | June 26, 2013
38 |  | Penny Pritzker | Illinois | June 26, 2013 | January 20, 2017
– | Vacant | January 20, 2017 | February 28, 2017 |  | Donald Trump
(2017–2021)
39 |  | Wilbur Ross | Florida | February 28, 2017 | January 20, 2021
– |  | Wynn Coggins
Acting | Virginia | January 20, 2021 | March 3, 2021 |  | Joe Biden
(2021–2025)
40 |  | Gina Raimondo | Rhode Island | March 3, 2021 | January 20, 2025
– |  | Jeremy Pelter
Acting |

Maryland

| January 20, 2025 | February 21, 2025 |  | Donald Trump
(2025–present)
41 |  | Howard Lutnick | New York | February 21, 2025 | Incumbent

## Line of succession

[edit]

The line of succession for the secretary of commerce is as follows:[8]

1. Deputy Secretary of Commerce
2. General Counsel of the Department of Commerce
3. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade
4. Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs
5. Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology
6. Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
7. Under Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration
8. Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Commerce and Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Administration
9. Boulder Laboratories Site Manager, National Institute of Standards and Technology

## References

[edit]

1. ^ 3 U.S.C. § 19
2. ^ "US Department of Commerce, Directives Management Program". Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved September 22, 2007.
3. ^ "Milestones". U.S. Department of Commerce. Archived from the original on October 15, 2011. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
4. ^ 5 U.S.C. § 5312
5. ^ "Salary Table No. 2021-EX Rates of Basic Pay for the Executive Schedule (EX)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on January 23, 2021.
6. ^ Rappeport, Alan (February 18, 2025). "Senate Confirms Howard Lutnick as Commerce Secretary". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
7. ^ Department of Commerce: Secretaries
8. ^ "Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Commerce". federalregister.gov. Retrieved October 29, 2016.

## External links

[edit]

* U.S. Department of Commerce – Secretaries of Commerce

U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)

Preceded by

Brooke Rollins

as Secretary of Agriculture |  Order of precedence of the United States
as Secretary of Commerce | Succeeded by

Lori Chavez-DeRemer

as Secretary of Labor
U.S. presidential line of succession
Preceded by

Secretary of Agriculture
Brooke Rollins

|  10th in line  | Succeeded by

Secretary of Labor
Lori Chavez-DeRemer

Links to related articles

* v
* t
* e

United States secretaries of commerce

Commerce and labor|

* Cortelyou
* Metcalf
* Straus
* Nagel

Commerce|

* Redfield
* Alexander
* Hoover
* Whiting
* Lamont
* Chapin
* Roper
* Hopkins
* Jones
* Wallace
* Harriman
* Sawyer
* Weeks
* Strauss
* Mueller
* Hodges
* Connor
* Trowbridge
* Smith
* Stans
* Peterson
* Dent
* Morton
* Richardson
* Kreps
* Klutznick
* Baldrige
* Verity
* Mosbacher
* Franklin
* Brown
* Kantor
* Daley
* Mineta
* Evans
* Gutierrez
* Locke
* Bryson
* Pritzker
* Ross
* Raimondo
* Lutnick

* v
* t
* e

United States Department of Commerce

* Headquarters: Herbert C. Hoover Building

* Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Commerce
* Jeremy Pelter, Acting Deputy Secretary of Commerce

Deputy Secretary of Commerce|

* Economic Development Administration
* National Technical Information Service
* Minority Business Development Agency
* National Telecommunications and Information Administration

Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs|

* Bureau of the Census
* Federal Audit Clearinghouse
* Bureau of Economic Analysis

Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security|

* Bureau of Industry and Security
* Office of Export Enforcement

Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property|

* United States Patent and Trademark Office

Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade|

* International Trade Administration
* Commercial Service

Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere|

* National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
* Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service
* Marine Fisheries Service
* Ocean Service
* Weather Service
* Marine & Aviation Operations
* Oceanic & Atmospheric Research

Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology|

* National Institute of Standards and Technology

* v
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Leaders of the United States federal executive departments

Current|

* Agriculture
* Commerce
* Defense
* Education
* Energy
* Health and Human Services
* Homeland Security
* Housing and Urban Development
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* Justice
* Labor
* State
* Transportation
* Treasury
* Veterans Affairs

Past|

* Commerce and Labor
* Health, Education, and Welfare
* Navy
* Post Office
* War

* v
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* e

United States presidential line of succession

* Succession Clause of Article II, Section I (1788)
* 12th Amendment (1804)
* 20th Amendment (1933)
* 25th Amendment (1967)
* Presidential Succession Act

Current line|

1. Vice President (JD Vance)
2. Speaker of the House of Representatives (Mike Johnson)
3. President pro tempore of the Senate (Chuck Grassley)
4. Secretary of State (Marco Rubio)
5. Secretary of the Treasury (Scott Bessent)
6. Secretary of Defense (Pete Hegseth)
7. Attorney General (Pam Bondi)
8. Secretary of the Interior (Doug Burgum)
9. Secretary of Agriculture (Brooke Rollins)
10. Secretary of Commerce (Howard Lutnick)
11. Secretary of Labor (Lori Chavez-DeRemer)
12. Secretary of Health and Human Services (Robert F. Kennedy Jr.)
13. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Scott Turner)
14. Secretary of Transportation (Sean Duffy)
15. Secretary of Energy (Chris Wright)
16. Secretary of Education (Linda McMahon)
17. Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Doug Collins)
18. Secretary of Homeland Security (Kristi Noem)

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