United States Secretary of the Interior

United States Secretary of the Interior
United States Secretary of the Interior
	Seal of the Department of the Interior
	Flag of the secretary
	Incumbent; Deb Haaland; since March 16, 2021
	United States Department of the Interior
Style	Madam Secretary (informal); The Honorable (formal)
Member of	Cabinet
Reports to	President of the United States
Seat	Washington, D.C.
Appointer	President of the United States; with Senate advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	43 U.S.C. § 1451
Formation	March 3, 1849; 175 years ago
First holder	Thomas Ewing
Succession	Eighth
Deputy	United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior
Salary	Executive Schedule, Level I
Website	doi.gov

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	Name	State of residence	Took office	Left office
1	Thomas Ewing	Ohio	March 8, 1849	July 22, 1850	Zachary Taylor (1849–1850)
1	Thomas Ewing	Ohio	March 8, 1849	July 22, 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	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)
14	Samuel J. Kirkwood	Iowa	March 8, 1881	April 17, 1882	Chester A. Arthur (1881–1885)
15	Henry M. Teller	Colorado	April 18, 1882	March 3, 1885	Chester A. Arthur (1881–1885)
16	Lucius Lamar	Mississippi	March 6, 1885	January 10, 1888	Grover Cleveland (1885–1889)
17	William Vilas	Wisconsin	January 16, 1888	March 6, 1889	Grover Cleveland (1885–1889)
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	Grover Cleveland (1893–1897)
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	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	Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909)
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	William Howard Taft (1909–1913)
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	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	Calvin Coolidge (1923–1929)
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)
32	Harold L. Ickes	Illinois	March 4, 1933	February 15, 1946	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)
37	Stewart Udall	Arizona	January 21, 1961	January 20, 1969	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
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	Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)
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	George H. W. Bush (1989–1993)
47	Bruce Babbitt	Arizona	January 22, 1993	January 19, 2001	Bill Clinton (1993–2001)
–	Thomas Slonaker Acting	Arizona	January 20, 2001	January 31, 2001	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
–	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
53	David Bernhardt	Colorado	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	Joe Biden (2021–2025)

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

Official website
Utley, Robert M.; Mackintosh, Barry (1989). "The Department of Everything Else: Highlights of Interior History". National Park Service. Archived from the original on March 28, 2006.

U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Merrick Garland as Attorney General	Order of precedence of the United States as Secretary of the Interior	Succeeded by Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. presidential line of succession
Preceded by Attorney General Merrick Garland	8th in line	Succeeded by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack