Executive Order 10901—Amendment of Executive Order 10501, Relating to Safeguarding Official Information in the Interests of the Defense of the United States

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 General Services Administration Interstate Commerce Commission National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Aeronautics and Space Council President's Board of Consultants on Foreign Intelligence Activities 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.