United States order of precedence

The United States order of precedence is a nominal and symbolic hierarchy of important positions within the government of the United States. The order is established by the President of the United States and can be changed at his direction. It has no legal standing and is instead used to dictate ceremonial protocol.

The Order of Precedence of the United States of America

1. President of the United States (George W. Bush)
2. Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate (Richard B. Cheney)
3. Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (Dennis Hastert)
4. Chief Justice of the United States (William Rehnquist)
5. Ambassadors
6. Secretary of State (Colin Powell)
7. Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
8. Associate Justices of the Supreme Court
9. Members of the United States Cabinet (see Presidential line of succession)
10. President Pro Tempore of the Senate (Ted Stevens)
11. Senators (by length of term served)
12. Governors of the States (by order of admission of State to Union)
13. Members of the United States House of Representatives (by length of term served)
14. Non-Voting Members of the House of Representatives
15. Governor of Puerto Rico[?] (Sila María Calderón[?])
16. National Security Advisor (Condoleezza Rice)
17. Counsellors and Assistants to the President
18. Charges d'Affaires of Foreign Countries
19. Deputy Secretaries of Executive Departments
20. Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (George Tenet)
21. Solicitor General (Ted Olson[?])
22. Administrator of the International Development Cooperation Agency[?]
23. Director of the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency[?]
24. Director of the United States Information Agency
25. Under Secretaries of State and Counsels[?]
26. Under Secretaries of Executive Departments
27. U.S. Ambassadors at Large
28. Secretaries of the Armed Forces
29. Postmaster General (John Potter)
30. Chairman of the Federal Reserve[?] (Alan Greenspan)
31. Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality[?]
32. Chairman of the United States Export-Import Bank[?]
33. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff[?] (Richard Myers)
34. Under Secretaries of Defense
35. Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
36. Chiefs of Staff of the Four Services
37. Commandant of the Coast Guard (Thomas Collins[?])
38. Commanders-in-Chief of Unified and Specified Commands of Four-Star Grade
39. Five-Star Generals[?] and Admirals
40. Lieutenant Governors of the States (by admission of State to Union)