--- kind: "section" citation: "10 U.S.C. § 20241" title: "10" title_heading: "Armed Forces" number: "20241" heading: "Removal of officers from a list of officers recommended for promotion" release: "119-102" date: "2026-07-12" url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/10/20241" units: - "Subtitle F — Alternative Military Personnel Systems" - "Part I — Space Force" - "Chapter 2005 — Officers" - "Subchapter III — Promotions" --- # §20241. Removal of officers from a list of officers recommended for promotion - (a) **Removal by President.—** The President may remove the name of any [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) from a promotion list at any time before the date on which the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) is promoted. - (b) **Removal for Withholding of Senate Advice and Consent.—** If the Senate does not give its advice and consent to the appointment to the next higher [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) of an [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) whose name is on a list of [officers](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) approved by the President for promotion (except in the case of promotions to a [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) to which appointments may be made by the President alone), the name of that [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) shall be removed from the list. - (c) **Removal After 18 Months.—** - (1) If an [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) whose name is on a list of [officers](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) approved for promotion under [section 20238(a) of this title](/usc/10/20238.md?p=a) to a [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) for which appointment is required by [section 20201(a) of this title](/usc/10/20201.md?p=a) to be made by and with the advice and consent of the Senate is not appointed to that [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) under such section during the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1)’s promotion eligibility period, the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1)’s name shall be removed from the list unless as of the end of such period the Senate has given its advice and consent to the appointment. - (2) Before the end of the promotion eligibility period with respect to an [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) under [paragraph (1)](#c-1), the President may extend that period for purposes of [paragraph (1)](#c-1) by an additional 12 months. - (3) In this subsection, the term “promotion eligibility period” means, with respect to an [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) whose name is on a list of [officers](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) approved for promotion under [section 20238(a) of this title](/usc/10/20238.md?p=a) to a [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) for which appointment is required by [section 20201(a) of this title](/usc/10/20201.md?p=a) to be made by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, the period beginning on the date on which the list is so approved and ending on the first day of the eighteenth month following the month during which the list is so approved. - (d) **Administrative Removal.—** Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Air Force, if an [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) on the Space Force [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) list is discharged or dropped from the rolls or transferred to a retired status after having been recommended for promotion to a higher [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) under this chapter, but before being promoted, the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1)’s name shall be administratively removed from the list of [officers](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) recommended for promotion by a selection board. - (e) **Continued Eligibility for Promotion.—** - (1) An [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) whose name is removed from a list under subsection [(a)](#a), [(b)](#b), or [(c)](#c) continues to be eligible for consideration for promotion. If that [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) is recommended for promotion by the next selection board convened for that [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1)’s [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) and competitive category and the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) is promoted, the Secretary of the Air Force may, upon the promotion, grant the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) the same date of [rank](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-8), the same effective date for the [pay](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-15) and allowances of the [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) to which promoted, and the same position on the Space Force [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) list, as the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) would have had if the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1)’s name had not been removed from the list. - (2) If such an [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) who is in a [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) below the [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) of colonel is not recommended for promotion by the next selection board convened for the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1)’s [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) and competitive category, or if the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1)’s name is again removed from the list of [officers](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) recommended for promotion, or if the Senate again does not give its advice and consent to his promotion, the [officer](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-1) shall be considered for all purposes to have failed of selection for promotion to the next higher [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7). - (f) **Applicability of Previous Executive Order.—** Except as otherwise provided by the President by Executive order, any Executive order issued before the date of the enactment of this section relating to functions of the President under section [629](/usc/10/629.md) or [14310](/usc/10/14310.md) of this title shall apply in the same manner to functions of the President under this section. ## Source credit (Added Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title XVII, § 1716(c), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 647; amended Pub. L. 118–159, div. A, title V, § 509E, Dec. 23, 2024, 138 Stat. 1874.) ## Notes ### Editorial Notes ### References in Text The date of the enactment of this section, referred to in subsec. (f), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 118–31, which was approved Dec. 22, 2023. ### Amendments 2024—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 118–159 substituted “section 629 or 14310” for “section 14310”.