---
kind: "section"
citation: "28 U.S.C. § 504"
title: "28"
title_heading: "Judiciary and Judicial Procedure"
number: "504"
heading: "Deputy Attorney General"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/28/504"
units:
  - "Part II — Department of Justice"
  - "Chapter 31 — The Attorney General"
---

# §504. Deputy Attorney General


The President may appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a Deputy Attorney General.


## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 89–554, § 4(c), Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 612; amended Pub. L. 107–77, title VI, § 612(c), Nov. 28, 2001, 115 Stat. 800; Pub. L. 107–273, div. B, title IV, § 4004(f), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1812.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Derivation | U.S. Code | Revised Statutes and<br>Statutes at Large |
|  | 5 U.S.C. 294. | Mar. 3, 1903, ch. 1006, § 1 (so much of 2d par. under “Department of Justice” as provides for appointment, pay, and duties of an assistant to the Attorney General), 32 Stat. 1062. |
|  | [Uncodified]. | 1950 Reorg. Plan No. 2, § 3, eff. May 24, 1950, 64 Stat. 1261. |

The words “may appoint” are substituted for “is authorized to appoint”. So much of the Act of Mar. 3, 1903, as relates to pay is omitted as superseded by § 303(c) of the Act of Aug. 14, 1964, Pub. L. 88–426, 78 Stat. 416, which is codified in section 5314 of title 5, United States Code.

### Editorial Notes

### Prior Provisions

A prior section 504, acts June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 909; Mar. 18, 1959, Pub. L. 86–3, § 11(b), 73 Stat. 9, related to tenure and oath of office of United States attorneys, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 89–554, § 8(a), and reenactment in sections 541 and 544 of this title by section 4(c) of Pub. L. 89–554.

### Amendments

2002—Pub. L. 107–273 repealed Pub. L. 107–77, § 612(c). See 2001 Amendment note below.

2001—Pub. L. 107–77, § 612(c), which directed amendment of section catchline by substituting “Attorneys” for “Attorney” and amendment of text by inserting “and a Deputy Attorney General for Combating Domestic Terrorism” after “General”, was repealed by Pub. L. 107–273.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Position Relating to Combating Domestic Terrorism

Pub. L. 107–77, title VI, § 612, Nov. 28, 2001, 115 Stat. 800, which had authorized appointment of a Deputy Attorney General for Combating Domestic Terrorism, if by June 30, 2002, the President had not submitted a proposal to restructure the Department of Justice to include a coordinator of Department of Justice activities relating to combating domestic terrorism, or if Congress had failed to enact legislation establishing such a new position, was repealed by Pub. L. 107–273, div. B, title IV, § 4004(f), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1812.