United States Secretary of Commerce


The United States Secretary of Commerce is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary is appointed by the president of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate and serves in the president's Cabinet. The secretary is concerned with promoting American businesses and industries; the department states its mission to be "to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce".
Until 1913, there was one secretary of commerce and labor, uniting this department with the Department of Labor, which is now headed by a separate secretary of labor.
The current commerce secretary is Wilbur Ross, who was nominated by President Donald Trump and approved by the Senate on February 28, 2017.

List of secretaries of commerce

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Living former secretaries of commerce

As of, there are nine living former secretaries of commerce, the oldest being Norman Mineta. The most recent secretary of commerce to die was Frederick B. Dent, on December 10, 2019. The most recently serving secretary to die was Ron Brown, who died in office on April 3, 1996.
NameTerm of officeDate of birth
Barbara H. Franklin1992–1993
Mickey Kantor1996–1997
William M. Daley1997–2000
Norman Mineta2000–2001
Donald Evans2001–2005
Carlos Gutierrez2005–2009
Gary F. Locke2009–2011
John Bryson2011–2012
Penny Pritzker2013–2017

Line of succession

The line of succession for the secretary of commerce is as follows:
  1. Deputy Secretary of Commerce
  2. General Counsel of the Department of Commerce
  3. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade
  4. Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs
  5. Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology
  6. Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  7. Under Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration
  8. Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Commerce and Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Administration
  9. Boulder Laboratories Site Manager, National Institute of Standards and Technology