Waiver of Statutory Qualifications Relating to Prior Military Service of the Secretary of Defense Page: 1 of 2
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CRS INSIGHT
Waiver of Statutory Qualifications Relating to Prior
Military Service of the Secretary of Defense
December 1, 2016 (IN10613)
Related Author
. Heidi M. Peters
Heidi M. Peters, Research Librarian (hpetersncrs loc gov, 7-0702)
The Secretary of Defense, who has authority, direction, and control over the Department of Defense, is a civilian
appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.
Section 113 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code provides that "[a] person may not be appointed as Secretary of Defense within
seven years after relief from active duty as a commissioned officer of a regular component of an armed force." Such
statutory qualification provisions are created by law, and thus may also be waived-or temporarily suspended for the
benefit of a specific individual-by law on a case-by-case basis.
Since the establishment of the position of Secretary of Defense by the National Security Act of 1947, CRS has been able
to identify one instance of Congress acting to waive this provision. Enacted on September 18, 1950, at the special
request of President Truman during a time of war, P.L. 81-788 authorized the waiver of certain statutory requirements
otherwise prohibiting General of the Army George C. Marshall from serving as the Secretary of Defense.
National Security Act of 1947 and Recent Changes
The principle of civilian control of the military places ultimate authority over the U.S. armed services in the hands of
civilian leadership, with civilian responsibility and control of the military balanced between the executive and
legislative branches of the government. The National Security Act of 1947 directed the President, with the advice and
consent of the Senate, to position a civilian Secretary of Defense at the head of a newly unified national military
establishment.
As enacted, Section 202 of the National Security Act of 1947 stipulated that a person "who has within ten years been on
active duty as a commissioned officer in a Regular component of the armed services shall not be eligible for
appointment as Secretary of Defense." This provision emerged from conference negotiations in July 1947-while both
the House and Senate bills required the Secretary of Defense to be a civilian appointed by the President, the House bill
specified that the Secretary of Defense "shall not have held a commission in a Regular component of the armed
services." Historic congressional documentation is silent on the specifics of the conference committee's rationale in
reaching this compromise; however, historians and observers-including statements made by Members of Congress
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Peters, Heidi M. Waiver of Statutory Qualifications Relating to Prior Military Service of the Secretary of Defense, report, December 1, 2016; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc958680/m1/1/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.