Amendment of Executive Order 10501, Relating to Safeguarding
10901 Official Information in the Interests of the Defense of the
United States
Signed: January 9, 1961
Federal Register page and date: 26 FR 217, January 12, 1961
Amends: EO 10501, November 5, 1953
Revokes: Memorandums of November 5, 1953; May 7, 1959; March 9,
1960
Amended by: EO 10985, January 12, 1962; EO 11097, February 28,
1963
See: EO 11652, March 8, 1972
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By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the
United States, and as President of the United States, and deeming such action
necessary in the best interest of the national security, it is ordered as follows:
Section 1. Section 2 of Executive Order No. 10501 of November 5, 1953, is amended
to read as follows:
"Sec. 2. Limitation of Authority to Classify
The authority to classify defense information or material under this order
shall be limited in the departments, agencies, and other units of the
executive branch as hereinafter specified.
"(a) In the following departments, agencies, and Governmental units,
having primary responsibility for matters pertaining to national
defense, the authority for original classification of information
or material under this order may be exercised by the head of the
department, agency, or Governmental unit concerned or by such
responsible officers or employees as he, or his representative,
may designate for that purpose. The delegation of such authority
to classify shall be limited as severely as is consistent with the
orderly and expeditious transaction of Government business.
The White House Office
President's Science Advisory Committee
Bureau of the Budget
Council of Economic Advisers
National Security Council
Operations Coordinating Board
Central Intelligence Agency
Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization
Department of State
International Cooperation Administration
Department of the Treasury
Department of Defense
Department of the Army
Department of the Navy
Department of the Air Force
Department of Justice
Department of Commerce
Department of Labor
Atomic Energy Commission
Canal Zone Government
Council on Foreign Economic Policy
Development Loan Fund
Federal Aviation Agency
Federal Communications Commission
Federal Radiation Council
United States Civil Service Commission
United States Information Agency
"(b) In the following departments, agencies, and Governmental units,
having partial but not primary responsibility for matters
pertaining to national defense, the authority for original
classification of information or material under this order shall
be exercised only by the head of the department, agency, or
Governmental unit without delegation:
Post Office Department
Department of the Interior
Department of Agriculture
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Civil Aeronautics Board
Federal Power Commission
Government Patents Board
National Science Foundation
Panama Canal Company
Renegotiation Board
Small Business Administration
Subversive Activities Control Board
Tennessee Valley Authority
"(c) Any agency or unit of the executive branch not named herein, and
any such agency or unit which may be established hereafter,
shall be deemed not to have authority for original classification
of information or material under this order, except as such
authority may be specifically conferred upon any such agency or
unit hereafter."
Sec. 2. My Memoranda of November 5, 1953, and May 7, 1959 (24 F.R. 3777), and
my Memorandum of March 9, 1960, (25 F.R. 2073), are hereby revoked.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
The White House,
January 9, 1961.
[Executive Orders]