United States order of precedence

Relative preeminence of officials for ceremonial purposes

Not to be confused with United States presidential line of succession.

Part of a series on the
Orders of precedence

Argentina

Australia

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belgium

Brazil

Brunei

Canada

Alberta
British Columbia
Manitoba
Newfoundland and Labrador
New Brunswick
Nova Scotia
Ontario
Prince Edward Island
Quebec
Saskatchewan
Yukon

Chile

China

Hong Kong

Colombia

Denmark

European Union

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Guatemala

Holy See

India

Indonesia

Ireland

Ireland (1897–1922) (hist.)

Israel

Italy

Jamaica

Japan

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Malaysia

Johor
Kedah
Kelantan
Malacca
Negeri Sembilan
Pahang
Penang
Perak
Perlis
Sabah
Sarawak
Selangor
Terengganu

Malta

New Zealand

Nepal

Norway

Pakistan

Poland

Poland-Lithuania (hist.)

Portugal

Philippines

Romania

South Africa

South Korea

Spain

Sri Lanka

Singapore

Sweden

Switzerland

Thailand

Turkey

United Kingdom

England and Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
United States

* v
* t
* e

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 published an updated order of precedence in February 2022.[3]

## List

[edit]

Except as otherwise noted, positions in the list are from the following source.[5] Details are accurate as of March 27, 2025[update].

1. President of the United States[n 1] (Donald Trump)
2. Vice President of the United States[n 1] (JD Vance)
3. Governor of a state[n 1] – when in own state
4. Speaker of the House of Representatives (Mike Johnson)
5. Chief Justice of the United States (John Roberts)
6. Former presidents of the United States or their widows/widowers (by seniority of assuming office):
1. Bill Clinton (January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001)
2. George W. Bush (January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009)
3. Barack Obama (January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017)
4. Joe Biden (January 20, 2021 – January 20, 2025)
7. Former vice presidents of the United States or their widows/widowers (by seniority of assuming office; note that Joe Biden, who would otherwise appear in this list, already appears above as a former president):
1. Dan Quayle (January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993)
2. Al Gore (January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001)
3. Dick Cheney (January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009)
4. Mike Pence (January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021)
5. Kamala Harris (January 20, 2021 – January 20, 2025)
8. American ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary to foreign governments – when at post
9. American ambassadors, permanent representatives or representatives to international organizations who hold chief of mission authority[n 2] – when at post
10. American chargé d'affaires ad interim – when at post
11. Secretary of State (Marco Rubio)
12. President, United Nations General Assembly – when in session (Philémon Yang)
13. Secretary-General of the United Nations – when at the United Nations (António Guterres)
14. President, United Nations General Assembly – when not in session
15. Ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary of foreign diplomatic missions to the United States[n 3] (in order of presentation of credentials to the president of the United States)
16. Associate justices of the Supreme Court (ranked by date of appointment):
1. Clarence Thomas (October 18, 1991)
2. Samuel Alito (January 31, 2006)
3. Sonia Sotomayor (August 8, 2009)
4. Elena Kagan (August 7, 2010)
5. Neil Gorsuch (April 8, 2017)
6. Brett Kavanaugh (October 6, 2018)
7. Amy Coney Barrett (October 27, 2020)
8. Ketanji Brown Jackson (June 30, 2022)
17. Retired chief justices of the United States (ranked by date of appointment; currently none)
18. Retired associate justices of the Supreme Court, unless they resigned (ranked by date of appointment):[n 4]
1. Anthony Kennedy (February 18, 1988 – July 31, 2018)
2. David Souter (October 9, 1990 – June 29, 2009)
3. Stephen Breyer (August 3, 1994 – June 30, 2022)
19. The Cabinet (other than Secretary of State), ranked according to the date of establishment of the department,[n 5] as added by the president,[n 6] as follows:
1. Secretary of the Treasury (Scott Bessent)
2. Secretary of Defense (Pete Hegseth)
3. Attorney General (Pam Bondi)
4. Secretary of the Interior (Doug Burgum)
5. Secretary of Agriculture (Brooke Rollins)
6. Secretary of Commerce (Howard Lutnick)
7. Secretary of Labor (Lori Chavez-DeRemer)
8. Secretary of Health and Human Services (Robert F. Kennedy Jr.)
9. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Scott Turner)
10. Secretary of Transportation (Sean Duffy)
11. Secretary of Energy (Chris Wright)
12. Secretary of Education (Linda McMahon)
13. Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Doug Collins)
14. Secretary of Homeland Security (Kristi Noem)
15. White House chief of staff (Susie Wiles)
16. Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency (Lee Zeldin)
17. Director, Office of Management and Budget (Russell Vought)
18. United States trade representative (Jamieson Greer)
19. Ambassador to the United Nations (Dorothy Shea) (Acting)
20. Administrator, Small Business Administration (Kelly Loeffler)
21. Director of National Intelligence (Tulsi Gabbard)
22. Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (John Ratcliffe)
20. President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate (Chuck Grassley)
21. Senate majority leader (John Thune)
22. Senate minority leader (Chuck Schumer)
23. Senate majority whip (John Barrasso)
24. Senate minority whip (Dick Durbin)
25. Senators (by length of service; if the same, by the state's date of admission into the Union or alphabetically by state)
26. Governors of states[n 1] – when outside their own states (relative precedence among governors, all of whom are outside their own state, is determined by each state's date of admission into the Union or alphabetically by state)
1. Governor of Delaware (Matt Meyer)
2. Governor of Pennsylvania (Josh Shapiro)
3. Governor of New Jersey (Phil Murphy)
4. Governor of Georgia (Brian Kemp)
5. Governor of Connecticut (Ned Lamont)
6. Governor of Massachusetts (Maura Healey)
7. Governor of Maryland (Wes Moore)
8. Governor of South Carolina (Henry McMaster)
9. Governor of New Hampshire (Kelly Ayotte)
10. Governor of Virginia (Glenn Youngkin)
11. Governor of New York (Kathy Hochul)
12. Governor of North Carolina (Josh Stein)
13. Governor of Rhode Island (Daniel McKee)
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 (Jeff Landry)
19. Governor of Indiana (Mike Braun)
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 Kehoe)
25. Governor of Arkansas (Sarah Huckabee Sanders)
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 (Tina Kotek)
34. Governor of Kansas (Laura Kelly)
35. Governor of West Virginia (Patrick Morrisey)
36. Governor of Nevada (Joe Lombardo)
37. Governor of Nebraska (Jim Pillen)
38. Governor of Colorado (Jared Polis)
39. Governor of North Dakota (Kelly Armstrong)
40. Governor of South Dakota (Larry Rhoden)
41. Governor of Montana (Greg Gianforte)
42. Governor of Washington (Bob Ferguson)
43. Governor of Idaho (Brad Little)
44. Governor of Wyoming (Mark Gordon)
45. Governor of Utah (Spencer Cox)
46. Governor of Oklahoma (Kevin Stitt)
47. Governor of New Mexico (Michelle Lujan Grisham)
48. Governor of Arizona (Katie Hobbs)
49. Governor of Alaska (Mike Dunleavy)
50. Governor of Hawaii (Josh Green)
27. House majority leader (Steve Scalise)
28. House minority leader (Hakeem Jeffries)
29. House majority whip (Tom Emmer)
30. House minority whip (Katherine Clark)
31. Members of the House of Representatives (by length of service; if the same, by the states's date of admission into the Union or alphabetically by state)
32. Delegates or resident commissioners to the House of Representatives (non-voting members) from Territory of American Samoa, District of Columbia, Territory of Guam, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Virgin Islands of the United States (by length of service)
1. Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia (January 3, 1991)
2. Amata Coleman Radewagen of American Samoa (January 3, 2015)
3. Stacey Plaskett of the US Virgin Islands (January 3, 2015)
4. James Moylan of Guam (January 3, 2023)
5. Pablo Hernández Rivera of Puerto Rico (January 3, 2025)
6. Kimberlyn King-Hinds of the Northern Mariana Islands (January 3, 2025)
33. Governors of Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Territory of Guam, Territory of American Samoa, United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (ordered by territory's date of entering U.S. jurisdiction or alphabetically by territory):
1. Governor of Puerto Rico (Jenniffer González-Colón)
2. Governor of Guam (Lou Leon Guerrero)
3. Governor of American Samoa (Pula Nikolao Pula)
4. Governor of the US Virgin Islands (Albert Bryan)
5. Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands (Arnold Palacios)
34. Assistants to the president:
1. National Security Advisor (Michael Waltz)
2. Counselors to the president (ranked by date of appointment):
1. Alina Habba (January 20, 2025)
2. Peter Navarro (January 20, 2025)
3. Stanley Woodward (January 20, 2025)
3. White House deputy chiefs of staff (ranked by date of appointment):
1. Dan Scavino (January 20, 2025)
2. Cora Alvi (January 20, 2025)
3. Stephen Miller (January 20, 2025)
4. James Blair (January 20, 2025)
5. Taylor Budowich (January 20, 2025)
6. Nicholas Luna (January 20, 2025)
7. Beau Harrison (January 20, 2025)
4. Chief of Staff to the spouse of the president (Hayley Harrison)
5. Chief of Staff to the vice president (Jacob Reses)
6. Senior advisors to the president (ordered by date of appointment):
1. Massad Boulos (January 20, 2025)
2. Elon Musk (January 20, 2025)
7. Remaining assistants to the president or special presidential envoys who previously held Cabinet rank (ordered by date of appointment; excluding those already listed above)
35. Other counselors to the president (ranked by date of appointment; currently none):
36. Other senior advisors to the president (ranked by date of appointment):
37. Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers (Stephen Miran)
38. Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (Vacant)
39. Presidential Science Advisor and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (Michael Kratsios)
40. Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (Vacant)
41. Chief of Protocol (Monica Crowley) – when with the president or for a White House event
42. Ambassadors from the United States to international organizations who do not hold Chief of Mission authority (when at post)[n 7]
43. Chargés d'affaires to the United States (ordered by assumption of office)
44. Former secretaries of state (ordered by term):
1. James Baker (January 20, 1989 – August 23, 1992)
2. Condoleezza Rice (January 26, 2005 – January 20, 2009)
3. 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)
4. John Kerry (February 1, 2013 – January 20, 2017)
5. Rex Tillerson (February 1, 2017 – March 31, 2018)
6. Mike Pompeo (April 26, 2018 – January 20, 2021)
7. Antony Blinken (January 26, 2021 – January 20, 2025)
45. Former members of the U.S. Cabinet (ordered by term, who do not already rank higher by virtue of another office)
46. Former U.S. senators (ordered by leadership position, then by term; if same, then by date of statehood or ratification of the Constitution, who do not already rank higher by virtue of another office)
47. Former governors of the state or territory in which the event is held (ordered by term, who do not already rank higher by virtue of another office)
48. Former governors (of states other than the state in which the event is held, by date of statehood or ratification of the Constitution, who do not already rank higher by virtue of another office)
49. Former U.S. representatives (ordered by leadership position, then by term; if same, then by date of statehood or ratification of the Constitution, who do not already rank higher by virtue of another office)
50. 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 (Christopher Landau)
2. Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources (Vacant)
3. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury (Michael Faulkender)
4. Deputy Secretary of Defense (Steve Feinberg)
5. Deputy Attorney General (Todd Blanche)
6. Deputy Secretary of the Interior (Vacant)
7. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture (Vacant)
8. Deputy Secretary of Commerce (Vacant)
9. Deputy Secretary of Labor (Keith Sonderling)
10. Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services (Vacant)
11. Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Vacant)
12. Deputy Secretary of Transportation (Steven Bradbury)
13. Deputy Secretary of Energy (Vacant)
14. Deputy Secretary of Education (Vacant)
15. Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Paul Lawrence)
16. Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security (Troy Edgar)
17. Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (Vacant)
18. Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (Dan Bishop)
19. Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (Vacant)
20. Deputy trade representatives:
21. Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations (Dorothy Shea)
22. Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration (Vacant)
51. Secretaries of the military departments (by creation order of branch):
1. Secretary of the Army (Dan Driscoll)
2. Secretary of the Navy (John Phelan)
3. Secretary of the Air Force (Gary Ashworth) (Acting)
52. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Dan Caine)
53. Chairman of the Federal Reserve (Jerome Powell)
54. Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (Leland Dudek) (Acting)
55. Heads of independent federal agencies at Level II of the Executive Schedule (ordered by agency 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 (Janet Petro) (Acting)
3. Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (Marco Rubio) (Acting)[6]
4. Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States (Vacant)
5. Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (David A. Wright)
6. Director of the United States Office of Personnel Management (Charles Ezell) (Acting)
7. Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (Vacant)
8. Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Russell Vought) (Acting)
9. CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (Scott Nathan)
56. Vice-chair and governors of the Federal Reserve (by length of service)
1. Michelle Bowman
2. Christopher Waller
3. Lisa D. Cook
4. Philip Jefferson
5. Michael Barr
6. Adriana Kugler
57. Deputy Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (Vacant)
58. Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (Michael Ellis)
59. Principal Deputy Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (Vacant)
60. Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (Don Holstead) (Acting)
61. Deputy heads of independent federal agencies at Level II of the Executive Schedule (ordered by agency creation date, if same, then by term)
62. Under secretaries of state and departmental positions of equivalent rank (ordered by departmental line of succession)
1. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (Lisa D. Kenna) (Acting)
2. Under Secretary of State for Management (Tibor P. Nagy) (Acting)
3. Remaining under secretaries of state, ordered by date of appointment:
1. Counselor of the United States Department of State (Michael Needham)
2. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs (Brent T. Christensen) (January 20, 2025) (Acting)
3. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment (Thomas E. Lertsen) (January 20, 2025) (Acting)
4. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (Darren Beattie) (February 4, 2025) (Acting)
5. Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights (Vacant)
63. 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)
64. Heads of federal departmental agencies (ordered as Cabinet above and then as by departmental line of succession). This includes the directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Secret Service, the Federal Aviation Administration, and Customs and Border Protection
65. Former chairs of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (ordered by term)
1. Hugh Shelton (October 1, 1997 – September 30, 2001)
2. Richard Myers (October 1, 2001 – September 30, 2005)
3. Peter Pace (October 1, 2005 – September 30, 2007)
4. Michael Mullen (October 1, 2007 – September 30, 2011)
5. Martin Dempsey (October 1, 2011 – September 30, 2015)
6. Joseph Dunford (October 1, 2015 – September 30, 2019)
7. Mark Milley (October 1, 2019 – September 30, 2023)
8. Charles Q. Brown Jr. (October 1, 2023 – February 21, 2025)
66. Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Christopher W. Grady)
67. Joint chiefs of staff (ordered by date of appointment):
1. Chief of Space Operations (B. Chance Saltzman) (November 2, 2022)
2. Chief of Staff of the Army (Randy A. George) (September 21, 2023)
3. Commandant of the Marine Corps (Eric M. Smith) (September 22, 2023)
4. Chief of Staff of the Air Force (David W. Allvin) (November 2, 2023)
5. Chief of Naval Operations (James W. Kilby) (February 21, 2025) (Acting)
68. Chief of the National Guard Bureau (Steven S. Nordhaus)
69. Commandant of the Coast Guard (Kevin E. Lunday) (Acting)
70. Combatant commanders of the Unified Combatant Commands of four-star grade (ordered by date of appointment):
1. Central Command (Michael E. Kurilla) (April 1, 2022)
2. European Command (Christopher G. Cavoli) (July 1, 2022)
3. Africa Command (Michael E. Langley) (August 9, 2022)
4. Special Operations Command (Bryan P. Fenton) (August 30, 2022)
5. Strategic Command (Anthony J. Cotton) (December 9, 2022)
6. Space Command (Stephen N. Whiting) (January 10, 2024)
7. Northern Command (Gregory M. Guillot) (February 5, 2024)
8. Indo-Pacific Command (Samuel J. Paparo Jr.) (May 3, 2024)
9. Transportation Command (Randall Reed) (October 4, 2024)
10. Southern Command (Alvin Holsey) (November 7, 2024)
11. Cyber Command (William J. Hartman) (April 3, 2025) (Acting)
71. Heads of independent federal agencies at Level III of the Executive Schedule (ordered by agency creation date, if same, then by term)
72. Deputy heads of independent federal agencies at Level III of the Executive Schedule (ordered by agency creation date, if same, then by term)
73. Postmaster General (Louis DeJoy)
74. Lieutenant governor (of the state in which the event is held)
75. Mayor (of the city in which the event is held)
76. Heads of international organizations when not at post (ranked by date of establishment)
77. Ambassadors or permanent representatives of foreign governments accredited to international organizations headquartered in the United States
78. Ambassadors from the United States to foreign governments (on official business in the United States or another country)
79. Chief of Protocol (when at the Department of State or at events outside the White House, otherwise appears above)
80. Ambassadors from the United States to international organizations who hold Chief of Mission authority (on official business in the United States or another country)
81. 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)
82. Career ambassadors
83. National Security Council Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary (Vacant)
84. Chief of Staff to the Spouse of the Vice President (Shannon Fisher)
85. Deputy Assistants to the President (ordered by date of appointment)
86. Executive Secretary of the National Space Council (Vacant)
87. Chief judges and circuit judges of the United States Courts of Appeals (by length of service)
88. Chief judges and district judges of the United States District Courts (by length of service)
89. Chief Judge and judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (by length of service)
1. Kevin A. Ohlson (November 1, 2013)
2. John E. Sparks (April 19, 2016)
3. Gregory E. Maggs (January 29, 2018)
4. Liam P. Hardy (December 8, 2020)
5. M. Tia Johnson (January 3, 2023)
90. Chief Judge and judges of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (by length of service)
1. Margaret Bartley (June 28, 2012)
2. Coral Wong Pietsch (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. (May 2018)
8. Scott J. Laurer (August 2020)
9. Grant C. Jaquith (September 3, 2020)
91. Chief Judge and judges of the United States Tax Court (by length of service)
92. Chargés d'affaires from the United States (ordered by assumption of office)
93. Under secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force (ordered by date of appointment)
1. Under Secretary of the Army (Vacant)
2. Under Secretary of the Navy (Vacant)
3. Under Secretary of the Air Force (Vacant)
94. Assistant secretaries (ordered as Cabinet above and then as by departmental line of succession)
95. Chiefs of staff to heads of executive departments (ordered as Cabinet above and then as by departmental line of succession)
96. Ambassadors-at-large (ordered as Cabinet above and then as by departmental line of succession)
97. Special envoys/representatives (ordered as Cabinet above and then as by departmental line of succession)
98. Assistant attorneys general (ordered by departmental line of succession)
99. White House Social Secretary (Carlos Elizondo)
100. Senior directors of the National Security Council
101. Legal advisers of executive departments (ordered as Cabinet above and then as by departmental line of succession)
102. Special assistants to the president (ranked by date of appointment)
103. Heads of independent federal agencies at Level IV of the Executive Schedule (ordered by agency creation date, if same, then by term)
1. Director of the Selective Service System (Vacant)
2. Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (Travis Hill) (Acting)
3. Chairman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights (Peter Kirsanow)
4. Chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission (Vacant)
5. President of the Inter-American Foundation (Vacant)
6. Chairman of the Federal Election Commission (Vacant)
7. Chairman of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (Colleen Kiko)
8. Special Counsel of the Office of Special Counsel (Vacant)
9. Director of the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (Vacant)
10. Chairperson of the Chemical Safety Board (Vacant)
11. CEO of the Broadcasting Board of Governors and Director of the International Broadcasting Bureau (Vacant)
12. Chairman of the Election Assistance Commission (Vacant)
104. Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Robert Kissane) (Acting)
105. Deputy heads of independent federal agencies at Level IV of the Executive Schedule (ordered by agency creation date, if same, then by term)
106. Assistant administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency
107. Assistant administrators of the United States Agency for International Development
108. Assistant trade representatives
109. Associate administrators of the Small Business Administration
110. Comptroller General of the United States (Gene Dodaro)
111. Members of the Council of Economic Advisers (ranked alphabetically)
112. Members of the Council on Environmental Quality (ranked alphabetically)
113. American ambassadors-designate (in the United States)
114. Mayors of U.S. cities (when not in own city; if multiple mayors present, rank by length of service)
115. Mayor of the District of Columbia (Muriel Bowser) (when not in own city)
116. Mayors of U.S. territories (when not in own city)
117. Vice chiefs of staff (ordered by date of appointment):
1. Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps (Christopher J. Mahoney) (November 3, 2023)
2. Vice Chief of Staff of the Army (James J. Mingus) (January 5, 2024)
3. Vice Chief of Naval Operations (James W. Kilby) (January 5, 2024)[n 8]
4. Vice Chief of Space Operations (Michael A. Guetlein) (January 5, 2024)
5. Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force (Scott L. Pleus) (February 21, 2025) (Acting)
118. Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau (Timothy L. Rieger) (Acting)
119. Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard (Peter W. Gautier) (Acting)[n 9]
120. Assistant secretaries and general counsels of the Department of the Army, Navy, and Air Force (by date of appointment)
1. Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Energy, Installations and Environment) (Vacant)
2. Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller) (Vacant)
3. Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) (Vacant)
4. General Counsel of the Army (Vacant)
5. Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics) (Vacant)
6. Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (Vacant)
7. General Counsel of the Navy (Vacant)
8. General Counsel of the Air Force (Vacant)
9. Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Energy and Environment) (Vacant)
10. Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management & Comptroller) (Vacant)
11. Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration (Vacant)
12. Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Manpower & Reserve Affairs) (Vacant)
13. Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management and Comptroller) (Vacant)
14. Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) (Vacant)
15. Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) (Vacant)
16. Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Installations, Environment & Energy) (Vacant)
17. Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition) (Vacant)
121. Four-star military officers (in order of seniority: retired officers rank with but after active-duty officers)
122. Executive Secretary of the National Security Council (if not listed above)
123. Officers of the U.S. Senate:
1. Chaplain (Barry Black)
2. Secretary for the Majority (Gary B. Myrick)
3. Secretary for the Minority (Robert M. Duncan)
4. Secretary of the Senate (Sonceria Berry)
5. Sergeant at Arms (Jennifer Hemingway)
6. Parliamentarian (Elizabeth MacDonough)
124. Officers of the U.S. House of Representatives:
1. Chaplain (Margaret G. Kibben)
2. Chief Administrative Officer (Catherine Szpindor)
3. Clerk of the House (Kevin McCumber) (Acting)
4. Sergeant at Arms (William McFarland)
125. Three-star military officers (in order of seniority: retired officers rank with but after active-duty officers)
126. State senators (when in own state; ranked by length of service, when the same, by alphabetical order by surname)
127. State representatives (when in own state; ranked by length of service, when the same, by alphabetical order by surname)
128. Former American ambassadors/chiefs of diplomatic missions (in order of presentation of credentials at first post, who do not already rank higher by virtue of another office)
129. Chairmen or heads of other federal boards, councils and commissions not previously listed
130. Librarian of Congress (Carla Hayden)
131. Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (Lonnie Bunch)
132. Chairman of the American Red Cross (Gail J. McGovern)
133. Deputy chiefs of Protocol (ranked by date of appointment)
134. Minister-rank officials assigned to foreign bilateral diplomatic missions in Washington, D.C.
135. 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)
136. 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)
137. 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)
138. Two-star military officers (in order of seniority: retired officers rank with but after active-duty officers)
139. 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)
140. Deputy assistant secretaries and deputy general counsels of the Army, Navy and Air Force (by date of appointment)
141. Directors of the National Security Council
142. American consuls general to foreign governments (at post)
143. American deputy chiefs of mission (at post)
144. Deputy ambassadors or permanent representatives of foreign governments accredited to international organizations headquartered in the United States
145. Assistant chiefs of protocol
146. Minister-Counselor-rank officials assigned to foreign diplomatic missions
147. Chief Judge and judges, United States Court of International Trade (by seniority)
1. Mark A. Barnett (May 28, 2013) (Chief Judge)
2. Claire R. Kelly (May 28, 2013)
3. Jennifer Choe-Groves (June 8, 2016)
4. Gary Stephen Katzmann (September 15, 2016)
5. Timothy M. Reif (August 8, 2019)
6. M. Miller Baker (December 18, 2019)
7. Stephen Vaden (December 21, 2020)
8. Lisa Wang (February 7, 2024)
9. Joseph A. Laroski (February 14, 2024)
148. Chief Judge and associate judges, United States Court of Federal Claims (by seniority)
1. Elaine D. Kaplan (November 6, 2013) (Chief Judge)
2. Richard Hertling (June 12, 2019)
3. Ryan T. Holte (July 11, 2019)
4. David A. Tapp (November 19, 2019)
5. Matthew H. Solomson (February 3, 2020)
6. Eleni M. Roumel (February 24, 2020)
7. Edward H. Meyers (October 20, 2020)
8. Kathryn C. Davis (December 16, 2020)
9. Zachary Somers (December 22, 2020)
10. Thompson Michael Dietz (December 22, 2020)
11. Stephen S. Schwartz (December 22, 2020)
12. Armando Bonilla (February 17, 2022)
13. Carolyn N. Lerner (February 17, 2022)
14. Molly Silfen (June 13, 2023)
15. Philip Hadji (September 28, 2023)
16. Robin M. Meriweather (August 8, 2024)
149. One-star military officers (in order of seniority: retired officers rank with but after active-duty officers)
150. Directors of offices of executive departments
151. Consuls general of foreign governments accredited to the United States
152. Counselor-rank officials assigned to foreign bilateral diplomatic missions in Washington, D.C.
153. 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)
154. Members of other federal boards, councils, and commissions not previously listed
155. Desk officers of executive departments
156. First Secretary-rank officials assigned to foreign bilateral diplomatic missions in Washington, D.C.

## Notes

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1. ^ a b c d Spouses of the president of the United States, the vice president of the United States, governors in their own state and mayors in their own cities are afforded the same rank and courtesy that accompanies their spouses' positions at official functions. Spouses of other federal, state, or municipal government officials are accorded the same rank as the principal at official functions when they are attending together, and they are seated accordingly. This seating courtesy is the only ranking a spouse without title receives in the United States, unless the spouse himself or herself holds a separate position on the order of precedence.[citation needed]
2. ^ The American Ambassadors, Permanent Representatives or Representatives to international organizations with Chief of Mission authority include the following: U.S. Mission to the United Nations (USUN) – New York; U.S. Mission to the African Union (USAU) – Addis Ababa; U.S. Representative to the Organization for Security & Cooperation in Europe with the rank of Ambassador (OSCE) – Vienna; U.S. Mission to the Vienna Office of the United Nations (UNVIE) – Vienna; U.S. Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (USNATO) – Brussels; U.S. Representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development with the rank of Ambassador (USOECD) – Paris; U.S. Mission to the UN and Other International Organizations – Geneva; U.S. Mission to the European Union (USEU) – Brussels; U.S. Mission to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (USASEAN) – Jakarta; U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States (USOAS) – Washington, DC.
3. ^ Diplomatic missions refer to all bilateral missions and the delegations of the European Union and African Union.
4. ^ See Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States § Retired associate justices for more details about retirement of Associate Justices, as opposed to resignation.
5. ^ For the purposes of the Order of Precedence, any reference to "executive department" shall mean the Cabinet Departments led by the Cabinet Secretaries.
6. ^ The President may make changes in his or her administration to the Cabinet-rank positions.
7. ^ The American Ambassadors, Permanent Representatives or Representatives to international organizations who do not hold Chief of Mission authority, and are given an Ambassador-rank only for the time served in the role, include the following: U.S. Representative to the Conference on Disarmament – Geneva; Representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) – Montreal; U.S. Representative to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) – Geneva; U.S. Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) – Paris; U.S. Representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) – The Hague; U.S. Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture (FAO) – Rome.
8. ^ Currently in a higher position as acting Chief of Naval Operations.
9. ^ Current Vice Commandant Kevin Lunday is in a higher position as acting Commandant of the Coast Guard.

## References

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1. ^ Mary Mel French (2010). United States Protocol: The Guide to Official Diplomatic Etiquette. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 15ff. ISBN 9781442203204.
2. ^ a b "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. ^ a b 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. ^ "2022-Order of Precedence-February-2022.pdf" (PDF). Retrieved March 3, 2022.
6. ^ As Marco Rubio already hold the more senior position of Secretary of State, he ranks higher up.

## Further reading

[edit]

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

## External links

[edit]

* United States Order of Precedence (PDF; 655 KB) 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

* v
* t
* e

Order of precedence in the United States*

* President Donald Trump

* Vice President JD Vance
* Governor (of the state in which the event is held)
* House Speaker Mike Johnson
* Chief Justice John Roberts
* Former President Bill Clinton
* Former President George W. Bush
* Former President Barack Obama
* Former President Joe Biden
* Former Vice President Dan Quayle
* Former Vice President Al Gore
* Former Vice President Dick Cheney
* Former Vice President Mike Pence
* Former Vice President Kamala Harris
* Ambassadors of the United States
* Secretary of State Marco Rubio
* Associate Justices
* Retired Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy
* Retired Associate Justice David Souter
* Retired Associate Justice Stephen Breyer
* Members of the Cabinet
* Senate President pro tempore Chuck Grassley
* Members of the Senate
* Governors of the States (by order of statehood)
* Members of the House of Representatives

*not including acting officeholders, visiting dignitaries, auxiliary executive and military personnel and most diplomats
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