United States Secretary of the Interior
Head of the United States Department of the Interior
The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior . The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natural resources , leading such agencies as the Bureau of Land Management , the United States Geological Survey , Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Park Service . The secretary also serves on and appoints the private citizens on the National Park Foundation Board. The secretary is a member of the United States Cabinet and reports to the president of the United States . The function of the U.S. Department of the Interior is different from that of the interior minister designated in many other countries.
As the policies and activities of the Department of the Interior and many of its agencies have a substantial impact in the Western United States ,[ 2] the secretary of the interior has typically come from a western state; only one secretary since 1949, Rogers Morton , was not a resident or native of a state lying west of the Mississippi River .
Secretary of the Interior is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule ,[ 3] thus earning a salary of US$ 246,400, as of January 2024.[ 4]
Following Senate confirmation in March 2021, former U.S. representative Deb Haaland was sworn in as the secretary of the interior, the first Native American to hold the position.[ 5]
Line of succession
The line of succession for the secretary of interior is as follows:[ 6]
Deputy Secretary of the Interior
Solicitor of the Interior
Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget
Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management
Assistant Secretary for Water and Science
Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs
Director, Security, Safety, and Law Enforcement, Bureau of Reclamation
Central Region Director, US Geological Survey
Intermountain Regional Director, National Park Service
Region 6 (Mountain-Prairie Region) Director, US Fish and Wildlife Service
Colorado State Director, Bureau of Land Management
Regional Solicitor, Rocky Mountain Region
List of secretaries of the interior
Parties
Whig (3)
Democratic (17)
Republican (33)
Status
Denotes
acting Secretary of the Interior
Number
Portrait
Name
State of residence
Took office
Left office
President(s)
1
Thomas Ewing
Ohio
March 8, 1849
July 22, 1850
Zachary Taylor (1849–1850)
Millard Fillmore (1850–1853)
2
Thomas McKennan
Pennsylvania
August 15, 1850
August 26, 1850
3
Alexander Stuart
Virginia
September 14, 1850
March 7, 1853
4
Robert McClelland
Michigan
March 8, 1853
March 9, 1857
Franklin Pierce (1853–1857)
5
Jacob Thompson
Mississippi
March 10, 1857
January 8, 1861
James Buchanan (1857–1861)
6
Caleb Smith
Indiana
March 5, 1861
December 31, 1862
Abraham Lincoln (1861–1865)
7
John Usher
Indiana
January 1, 1863
May 15, 1865
Andrew Johnson (1865–1869)
8
James Harlan
Iowa
May 16, 1865
August 31, 1866
9
Orville Browning
Illinois
September 1, 1866
March 4, 1869
10
Jacob Cox
Ohio
March 5, 1869
October 31, 1870
Ulysses S. Grant (1869–1877)
11
Columbus Delano
Ohio
November 1, 1870
September 30, 1875
12
Zachariah Chandler
Michigan
October 19, 1875
March 11, 1877
13
Carl Schurz
Missouri
March 12, 1877
March 7, 1881
Rutherford B. Hayes (1887–1881)
14
Samuel J. Kirkwood
Iowa
March 8, 1881
April 17, 1882
James A. Garfield (1881)
Chester A. Arthur (1881–1885)
15
Henry M. Teller
Colorado
April 18, 1882
March 3, 1885
16
Lucius Lamar
Mississippi
March 6, 1885
January 10, 1888
Grover Cleveland (1885–1889)
17
William Vilas
Wisconsin
January 16, 1888
March 6, 1889
18
John Noble
Missouri
March 7, 1889
March 6, 1893
Benjamin Harrison (1889–1893)
19
Hoke Smith
Georgia
March 6, 1893
September 1, 1896
Grover Cleveland (1893–1897)
20
David R. Francis
Missouri
September 3, 1896
March 5, 1897
21
Cornelius Bliss
New York
March 6, 1897
February 19, 1899
William McKinley (1897–1901)
22
Ethan Hitchcock
Missouri
February 20, 1899
March 4, 1907
Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909)
23
James Garfield
Ohio
March 5, 1907
March 4, 1909
24
Richard A. Ballinger
Washington
March 6, 1909
March 12, 1911
William Howard Taft (1909–1913)
25
Walter L. Fisher
Illinois
March 13, 1911
March 5, 1913
26
Franklin Lane
California
March 6, 1913
February 29, 1920
Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921)
–
Alexander Vogelsang Acting
California
February 29, 1920
March 13, 1920
27
John Payne
Illinois
March 15, 1920
March 4, 1921
28
Albert B. Fall
New Mexico
March 5, 1921
March 4, 1923
Warren G. Harding (1921–1923)
29
Hubert Work
Colorado
March 5, 1923
July 24, 1928
Calvin Coolidge (1923–1929)
30
Roy West
Illinois
July 25, 1928
March 4, 1929
31
Ray Lyman Wilbur
California
March 5, 1929
March 4, 1933
Herbert Hoover (1929–1933)
32
Harold L. Ickes
Illinois
March 4, 1933
February 15, 1946
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945)
Harry S. Truman (1945–1953)
–
Oscar L. Chapman Acting
Colorado
February 15, 1946
March 18, 1946
33
Julius Krug
Wisconsin
March 18, 1946
December 1, 1949
34
Oscar L. Chapman
Colorado
December 1, 1949
January 20, 1953
35
Douglas McKay
Oregon
January 21, 1953
April 15, 1956
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961)
–
Clarence Davis Acting
Nebraska
April 15, 1956
June 8, 1956
36
Fred Seaton
Nebraska
June 8, 1956
January 20, 1961
37
Stewart Udall
Arizona
January 21, 1961
January 20, 1969
John F. Kennedy (1961–1963)
Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969)
38
Wally Hickel
Alaska
January 24, 1969
November 25, 1970
Richard Nixon (1969–1974)
–
Fred J. Russell Acting
California
November 25, 1970
January 29, 1971
39
Rogers Morton
Maryland
January 29, 1971
April 30, 1975
Gerald Ford (1974–1977)
–
Kent Frizzell Acting
Kansas
April 30, 1975
June 12, 1975
40
Stanley K. Hathaway
Wyoming
June 12, 1975
October 9, 1975
–
Kent Frizzell Acting
Kansas
October 9, 1975
October 17, 1975
41
Thomas S. Kleppe
North Dakota
October 17, 1975
January 20, 1977
–
Alfred Albert Acting
January 20, 1977
January 23, 1977
Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)
42
Cecil D. Andrus
Idaho
January 23, 1977
January 20, 1981
43
James G. Watt
Colorado
January 23, 1981
November 8, 1983
Ronald Reagan (1981–1989)
–
J. J. Simmons Acting
New Jersey
November 8, 1983
November 18, 1983
44
William P. Clark
California
November 18, 1983
February 7, 1985
45
Donald P. Hodel
Virginia
February 8, 1985
January 20, 1989
–
Earl Gjelde Acting
Virginia
January 20, 1989
February 3, 1989
George H. W. Bush (1989–1993)
46
Manuel Lujan Jr.
New Mexico
February 3, 1989
January 20, 1993
47
Bruce Babbitt
Arizona
January 22, 1993
January 19, 2001
Bill Clinton (1993–2001)
–
Thomas Slonaker Acting
Arizona
January 20, 2001
January 31, 2001
George W. Bush (2001–2009)
48
Gale Norton
Colorado
January 31, 2001
March 31, 2006
–
Lynn Scarlett Acting
California
April 1, 2006
May 26, 2006
49
Dirk Kempthorne
Idaho
May 26, 2006
January 19, 2009
–
Lynn Scarlett Acting
California
January 19, 2009
January 20, 2009
Barack Obama (2009–2017)
50
Ken Salazar
Colorado
January 20, 2009
April 12, 2013
51
Sally Jewell
Washington
April 12, 2013 [ 7]
January 20, 2017
–
Kevin Haugrud Acting
January 20, 2017
March 1, 2017
Donald Trump (2017–2021)
52
Ryan Zinke
Montana
March 1, 2017
January 2, 2019
53
David Bernhardt
Colorado
January 2, 2019
April 11, 2019
April 11, 2019
January 20, 2021
–
Scott de la Vega Acting
New York
January 20, 2021
March 16, 2021
Joe Biden (2021–2025 )
54
Deb Haaland
New Mexico
March 16, 2021
Incumbent
References
^ "3 U.S. Code § 19 – Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible to act" . Legal Information Institute .
^ Lowery, Courtney (December 17, 2008). "Salazar, Vilsack: The West's New Land Lords" . New West . Archived from the original on December 20, 2008.
^ 5 U.S.C. § 5312
^
"Rates of Basic Pay for the Executive Schedule" (PDF) . Office of Personnel Management . January 1, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2024 .
^ Rott, Nathan (March 15, 2021). "Deb Haaland Confirmed As 1st Native American Interior Secretary" . NPR .
^ "Chapter 3: Secretarial Succession" . Electronic Library of the Interior Policies . September 3, 2004. Retrieved October 30, 2016 .
^ "About Secretary Jewell" . U.S. Department of the Interior . Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013 .
External links
Links to related articles
* Ineligible to
act as president • ** Ambiguity exists concerning eligibility to act as president