10 U.S.C. § 138 — Assistant Secretaries of Defense

(a) There are 20 Assistant Secretaries of Defense. (1) That is the total number. (2) The President appoints them from civilian life, and the Senate must approve. (b) What Assistant Secretaries do, generally, and the nine named positions. (1) Assistant Secretaries perform whatever duties and exercise whatever powers the Secretary of Defense assigns to them. (2) One Assistant Secretary is the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict. (A) This Assistant Secretary's main job is overall supervision — including oversight of policy and resources — of the Defense Department's special operations activities (as defined in section 167(k) of this title) and its low intensity conflict activities. This Assistant Secretary is the Secretary of Defense's main civilian adviser on special operations and low intensity conflict, and — after the Secretary and Deputy Secretary — is the top special operations and low intensity conflict official in the Department's senior leadership. A person can't be appointed to this job until at least seven years after leaving active duty as a commissioned officer in a regular armed-force component. Working under the Secretary of Defense's authority, direction, and control, this Assistant Secretary must: (i) exercise authority, direction, and control over all special-operations-specific administrative matters — organizing, training, and equipping special operations forces — through the chain of command set out in section 167(f); and (ii) help the Secretary and the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy develop and supervise policy, program planning and execution, and the use of resources for the Department's activities involving (I) irregular warfare, combating terrorism, and the special operations activities named in section 167(k), and (II) tying together the headquarters' functions so the Department can most efficiently supply the special operations forces and capabilities it needs. (B) When carrying out the duties in (A)(i), this Assistant Secretary reports directly to the Secretary of Defense. Unless the President says otherwise, no official below the Secretary may step in to control the Assistant Secretary's exercise of those specific duties. (3) One Assistant Secretary is the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs. This Assistant Secretary's main job is overall supervision of the Department's legislative affairs. (4) One Assistant Secretary is the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Deterrence, Chemical, and Biological Defense Policy and Programs. This Assistant Secretary is the Secretary of Defense's main civilian adviser, within the Department's senior leadership, on nuclear deterrence policies, operations, and programs. The main job is overall supervision of the Department's nuclear deterrence policy, resources, and activities. (A) Working under the Secretary of Defense's authority, direction, and control, this Assistant Secretary must: (i) advise and assist the Secretary of Defense, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, and the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy on developing and supervising policy, program planning and execution, and resource use for everything relating to sustaining, operating, and modernizing U.S. nuclear forces (as defined in section 499c(d)); (ii) share views on matters within this job's responsibility directly with the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense, without needing anyone else's approval; (iii) serve as Staff Director of the Nuclear Weapons Council created by section 179; (iv) serve as the Department's main civilian official responsible for overseeing portfolio management of nuclear forces under section 499c; (v) serve as the main point of contact with the Department of Energy on nuclear fuel issues; (vi) work with the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment to advise the Secretary of Defense on nuclear energy matters; and (vii) advise and assist the Secretary of Defense, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, and the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy on defending against chemical, biological, and other weapons of mass destruction. (B) Unless the President or a statute says otherwise, only the Secretary of Defense, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, and the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy may step in to control how this Assistant Secretary carries out the duties in (A). (5) One Assistant Secretary is the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy. This Assistant Secretary's main job is overall supervision of the Department's policy for space warfighting. (6) One Assistant Secretary is the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy. This Assistant Secretary advises the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment on industrial base policies. (7) One Assistant Secretary is the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Armaments Cooperation, who reports directly to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. This Assistant Secretary's main job is to carry out section 133b(b)(10) of this title. (8) One Assistant Secretary is the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment. This Assistant Secretary's main job is overall supervision of the Department's energy, installations, and environmental matters. (9) One Assistant Secretary is the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy. This Assistant Secretary's main job is overall supervision of the Department's cyber policy, and this Assistant Secretary is also the Principal Cyber Advisor described in section 392a(a). (c) Except where another law specifically says otherwise, an Assistant Secretary may not issue an order to a military department unless (1) the Secretary of Defense has specifically delegated that authority to the Assistant Secretary in writing, and (2) the order is issued through the Secretary of the military department involved. (d) In line of precedence within the Department of Defense, the Assistant Secretaries rank after the Secretary of Defense, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Secretaries of the military departments, the Under Secretaries of Defense, the officials in the positions named in section 131(b)(4), and the Deputy Under Secretaries of Defense. Among themselves, Assistant Secretaries rank in whatever order the Secretary of Defense sets. (e) There can't be more than 62 Deputy Assistant Secretaries of Defense.