United States Secretary of Defense

United States Secretary of Defense
Seal of the department[1]
Flag of the secretary[2]
Incumbent
Pete Hegseth
since January 25, 2025
United States Department of Defense
Office of the Secretary of Defense
StyleMr. Secretary (informal)
The Honorable (formal)
AbbreviationSecDef
Member ofCabinet
National Security Council
Reports toPresident of the United States
SeatThe Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia
AppointerThe president
with Senate advice and consent
Term lengthNo fixed term
Constituting instrument10 U.S.C. § 113
PrecursorSecretary of War
Secretary of the Navy
FormationSeptember 17, 1947 (1947-09-17)
First holderJames Forrestal
SuccessionSixth[3]
DeputyDeputy Secretary of Defense
SalaryExecutive Schedule, level I[4]
Websitewar.gov

The United States secretary of defense (SecDef), secondarily titled the secretary of war,[a] is the head of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high-ranking member of the cabinet of the United States.[5][6][7] The secretary of defense's position of command and authority over the military is second only to that of the president of the United States, who is the commander-in-chief. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a defense minister in many other countries.[8] The president appoints the secretary of defense with the advice and consent of the Senate, and is by custom a member of the Cabinet and by law a member of the National Security Council.[9]

To ensure civilian control of the military, U.S. law provides that the secretary of defense cannot have served as an active-duty commissioned officer in the military in the preceding seven years except for generals and admirals, who cannot have served on active duty within the previous ten years. Congress can legislatively waive this restriction[10] and has done so three times, for George C. Marshall Jr., James N. Mattis, and Lloyd J. Austin III.

Subject only to the orders of the president, the secretary of defense is in the chain of command and exercises command and control, for both operational and administrative purposes, over all DoD-administered service branches  – the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force – as well as the Coast Guard when its command and control is transferred to the Department of Defense.[11][12][13][14][15] Only the secretary of defense (or the president or Congress) can authorize the transfer of operational control of forces between the three military departments (Department of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force) and the eleven Unified Combatant Commands.[11] Because the secretary of defense is vested with legal powers that exceed those of any commissioned officer, and is second only to the president in the military hierarchy, its incumbent has sometimes unofficially been referred to as "deputy commander-in-chief".[16][17][18] The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the principal military adviser to the secretary of defense and the president; while the chairman may assist the secretary and president in their command functions, the chairman is not in the chain of command.[19]

The secretary of state, the secretary of the treasury, the secretary of defense, and the attorney general are generally regarded as the four most important (and are officially the four most senior and oldest) cabinet officials because of the size and importance of their respective departments.[20]

The current secretary of defense is Pete Hegseth, who was nominated by President Donald Trump and was confirmed by the Senate on January 25, 2025.

In 2025, President Donald Trump authorized "secretary of war" as a secondary title for use by the secretary; only an act of Congress can legally change the name of the position.[21][22]

  1. ^ Trask & Goldberg: p. 177.
  2. ^ "Positional Colors for the Department of Defense". United States Army Institute of Heraldry. Archived from the original on September 16, 2023. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  3. ^ "3 U.S. Code § 19 – Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible to act". Archived from the original on December 26, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  4. ^ 5 U.S.C. § 5312
  5. ^ 10 U.S.C. § 113.
  6. ^ DoDD 5100.1: Enclosure 2: a
  7. ^ 5 U.S.C. § 101.
  8. ^ "NATO – member countries". NATO. Archived from the original on May 17, 2013. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  9. ^ 50 U.S.C. § 402.
  10. ^ See 10 U.S.C. § 113. The National Security Act of 1947 originally required an interval of ten years after relief from active duty, which was reduced to seven years by Sec. 903(a) of the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act. In 1950 Congress passed special legislation (Pub. Law 81-788) to allow George C. Marshall to serve as Secretary of Defense while remaining a commissioned officer on the active list of the Army (Army regulations kept all five-star generals on active duty for life), but warned:

    It is hereby expressed as the intent of the Congress that the authority granted by this Act is not to be construed as approval by the Congress of continuing appointments of military men to the office of Secretary of Defense in the future. It is hereby expressed as the sense of the Congress that after General Marshall leaves the office of Secretary of Defense, no additional appointments of military men to that office shall be approved.

    Defenselink bio Archived November 18, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved February 8, 2010; and Marshall Foundation bio Archived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved February 8, 2010.

  11. ^ a b 10 U.S.C. § 162
  12. ^ Joint Publication 1: II-9, II-10 & II-11.
  13. ^ 10 U.S.C. § 3011
  14. ^ 10 U.S.C. § 5011
  15. ^ 10 U.S.C. § 8011
  16. ^ Trask & Goldberg: pp.11 & 52
  17. ^ Cohen: p.231.
  18. ^ Korb, Lawrence J.; Ogden, Pete (October 31, 2006). "Rumsfeld's Management Failures". Center for American Progress. Archived from the original on October 22, 2017. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  19. ^ 10 U.S.C. § 152
  20. ^ Cabinets and Counselors: The President and the Executive Branch (1997). Congressional Quarterly. p. 87.
  21. ^ "Trump to sign executive order renaming Defense to Department of War - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. September 4, 2025. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
  22. ^ "Trump order will rebrand Defense Department as Department of War". www.nbcnews.com. September 5, 2025. Retrieved September 5, 2025.


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