H.R. 335: To provide for an exception to a limitation against appointment of persons as Secretary of Defense within seven years of relief from active duty as a regular commissioned officer of the Armed Forces.

Bill · 117th Congress (2021–2022). Became law, 22 Jan 2021 · Public Law 117-1. Introduced 15 Jan 2021.

Vote results

How each member voted

White House

Signed (1): Joseph Biden (D, President).

Not in office (2): Donald Trump (R, President); Mike Pence (R, Vice President).

Senate

Yea (69): Chuck Grassley (R-IA); Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT); Richard C. Shelby (R-AL); Charles E. Schumer (D-NY); Richard J. Durbin (D-IL); Mitch McConnell (R-KY); Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD); James M. Inhofe (R-OK); Thomas R. Carper (D-DE); Jack Reed (D-RI); Bernard Sanders (I-VT); Dianne Feinstein (D-CA); Sherrod Brown (D-OH); Mike Crapo (R-ID); Robert Menendez (D-NJ); Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Roger F. Wicker (R-MS); Roy Blunt (R-MO); Debbie Stabenow (D-MI); Maria Cantwell (D-WA); John Thune (R-SD); Rob Portman (R-OH); Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV); John Boozman (R-AR); John Cornyn (R-TX); Lisa Murkowski (R-AK); Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-PA); Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI); Amy Klobuchar (D-MN); Christopher Murphy (D-CT); Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI); Bill Cassidy (R-LA); Martin Heinrich (D-NM); Ben Ray Luján (D-NM); Gary C. Peters (D-MI); James E. Risch (R-ID); Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH); Mark R. Warner (D-VA); Michael F. Bennet (D-CO); Christopher A. Coons (D-DE); Joe Manchin, III (D-WV); John Hoeven (R-ND); Ron Johnson (R-WI); James Lankford (R-OK); Rand Paul (R-KY); Tim Scott (R-SC); Brian Schatz (D-HI); Kevin Cramer (R-ND); Ted Cruz (R-TX); Steve Daines (R-MT); Deb Fischer (R-NE); Tim Kaine (D-VA); Angus S. King, Jr. (I-ME); Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ); Joni Ernst (R-IA); Mike Rounds (R-SD); Dan Sullivan (R-AK); Margaret Wood Hassan (D-NH); John Kennedy (R-LA); Tina Smith (D-MN); Mike Braun (R-IN); Mitt Romney (R-UT); Mark Kelly (D-AZ); Bill Hagerty (R-TN); John W. Hickenlooper (D-CO); Tommy Tuberville (R-AL); Jon Ossoff (D-GA); Alex Padilla (D-CA); Raphael G. Warnock (D-GA).

Nay (27): Edward J. Markey (D-MA); Ron Wyden (D-OR); Patty Murray (D-WA); Susan M. Collins (R-ME); Tammy Baldwin (D-WI); Marsha Blackburn (R-TN); Chris Van Hollen (D-MD); Patrick J. Toomey (R-PA); Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY); Jon Tester (D-MT); John Barrasso (R-WY); Jeff Merkley (D-OR); Richard Blumenthal (D-CT); Mike Lee (R-UT); Marco Rubio (R-FL); Todd Young (R-IN); Tom Cotton (R-AR); Tammy Duckworth (D-IL); Cynthia M. Lummis (R-WY); Elizabeth Warren (D-MA); Cory A. Booker (D-NJ); Ben Sasse (R-NE); Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV); Roger Marshall (R-KS); Jacky Rosen (D-NV); Josh Hawley (R-MO); Rick Scott (R-FL).

Not voting (4): Richard Burr (R-NC); Jerry Moran (R-KS); Thom Tillis (R-NC); Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS).

Not in office (2): Kamala D. Harris (D-CA); Kelly Loeffler (R-GA).

House

Yea (326): Harold Rogers (R-KY-5); Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ-4); Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD-5); Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-9); Peter A. DeFazio (D-OR-4); Fred Upton (R-MI-6); Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ-6); Richard E. Neal (D-MA-1); David E. Price (D-NC-4); Jim Cooper (D-TN-5); Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT-3); Maxine Waters (D-CA-43); Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-10); Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA-2); James E. Clyburn (D-SC-6); Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA-18); Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX-30); Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY-12); Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA-40); Bobby L. Rush (D-IL-1); Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA-3); Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY-7); Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS-2); Frank D. Lucas (R-OK-3); Lloyd Doggett (D-TX-35); Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX-18); Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-19); Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-3); Steve Chabot (R-OH-1); Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL-4); Danny K. Davis (D-IL-7); Diana DeGette (D-CO-1); James P. McGovern (D-MA-2); Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-9); Brad Sherman (D-CA-30); Adam Smith (D-WA-9); Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY-5); Barbara Lee (D-CA-13); John B. Larson (D-CT-1); Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA-32); Janice D. Schakowsky (D-IL-9); Mike Thompson (D-CA-5); Pete Sessions (R-TX-17); James R. Langevin (D-RI-2); Rick Larsen (D-WA-2); Betty McCollum (D-MN-4); Adam B. Schiff (D-CA-28); Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA-8); Joe Wilson (R-SC-2); Michael C. Burgess (R-TX-26); John R. Carter (R-TX-31); Tom Cole (R-OK-4); Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL-25); Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ-3); Mike Rogers (R-AL-3); C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD-2); Tim Ryan (D-OH-13); David Scott (D-GA-13); Linda T. Sánchez (D-CA-38); Michael R. Turner (R-OH-10); Darrell Issa (R-CA-50); Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO-5); Jim Costa (D-CA-16); Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28); Virginia Foxx (R-NC-5); Al Green (D-TX-9); Brian Higgins (D-NY-26); Michael T. McCaul (R-TX-10); Patrick T. McHenry (R-NC-10); Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA-5); Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-23); Doris O. Matsui (D-CA-6); Albio Sires (D-NJ-8); Gus M. Bilirakis (R-FL-12); Vern Buchanan (R-FL-16); Kathy Castor (D-FL-14); Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY-9); Steve Cohen (D-TN-9); Joe Courtney (D-CT-2); Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (D-GA-4); Jim Jordan (R-OH-4); Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-23); Jerry McNerney (D-CA-9); Ed Perlmutter (D-CO-7); John P. Sarbanes (D-MD-3); Adrian Smith (R-NE-3); Peter Welch (D-VT-AL); John A. Yarmuth (D-KY-3); Robert E. Latta (R-OH-5); Robert J. Wittman (R-VA-1); André Carson (D-IN-7); Jackie Speier (D-CA-14); Steve Scalise (R-LA-1); Tim Walberg (R-MI-7); Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA-11); Brett Guthrie (R-KY-2); James A. Himes (D-CT-4); Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO-3); Chellie Pingree (D-ME-1); Glenn Thompson (R-PA-15); Paul Tonko (D-NY-20); Kurt Schrader (D-OR-5); Mike Quigley (D-IL-5); Judy Chu (D-CA-27); John Garamendi (D-CA-3); Bill Foster (D-IL-11); Karen Bass (D-CA-37); Mo Brooks (R-AL-5); Larry Bucshon (R-IN-8); David N. Cicilline (D-RI-1); Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-4); Charles J. "Chuck" Fleischmann (R-TN-3); H. Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9); Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA-3); Bill Huizenga (R-MI-2); Bill Johnson (R-OH-6); William R. Keating (D-MA-9); Mike Kelly (R-PA-16); Adam Kinzinger (R-IL-16); Billy Long (R-MO-7); David B. McKinley (R-WV-1); Steven M. Palazzo (R-MS-4); David Schweikert (R-AZ-6); Austin Scott (R-GA-8); Terri A. Sewell (D-AL-7); Frederica S. Wilson (D-FL-24); Steve Womack (R-AR-3); Dina Titus (D-NV-1); Kweisi Mfume (D-MD-7); Mark E. Amodei (R-NV-2); Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-1); Suzan K. DelBene (D-WA-1); Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-NJ-10); Joyce Beatty (D-OH-3); Ami Bera (D-CA-7); Julia Brownley (D-CA-26); Cheri Bustos (D-IL-17); Matt Cartwright (D-PA-8); Joaquin Castro (D-TX-20); Tony Cárdenas (D-CA-29); Lois Frankel (D-FL-21); Richard Hudson (R-NC-8); Jared Huffman (D-CA-2); Hakeem S. Jeffries (D-NY-8); David P. Joyce (R-OH-14); Daniel T. Kildee (D-MI-5); Derek Kilmer (D-WA-6); Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ-2); Ann M. Kuster (D-NH-2); Alan S. Lowenthal (D-CA-47); Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY-18); Grace Meng (D-NY-6); Scott H. Peters (D-CA-52); Mark Pocan (D-WI-2); Tom Rice (R-SC-7); Raul Ruiz (D-CA-36); Eric Swalwell (D-CA-15); Mark Takano (D-CA-41); Juan Vargas (D-CA-51); Marc A. Veasey (D-TX-33); Ann Wagner (R-MO-2); Roger Williams (R-TX-25); Robin L. Kelly (D-IL-2); Katherine M. Clark (D-MA-5); Alma S. Adams (D-NC-12); Donald Norcross (D-NJ-1); Pete Aguilar (D-CA-31); Rick W. Allen (R-GA-12); Donald S. Beyer, Jr. (D-VA-8); Mike Bost (R-IL-12); Brendan F. Boyle (D-PA-2); Ken Buck (R-CO-4); Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-GA-1); Ed Case (D-HI-1); Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA-11); Debbie Dingell (D-MI-12); Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-7); Glenn Grothman (R-WI-6); John Katko (R-NY-24); Brenda L. Lawrence (D-MI-14); Ted Lieu (D-CA-33); John R. Moolenaar (R-MI-4); Alexander X. Mooney (R-WV-2); Gary J. Palmer (R-AL-6); Kathleen M. Rice (D-NY-4); Elise M. Stefanik (R-NY-21); Norma J. Torres (D-CA-35); Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12); Bruce Westerman (R-AR-4); Lee M. Zeldin (R-NY-1); Bradley Scott Schneider (D-IL-10); David G. Valadao (R-CA-21); Trent Kelly (R-MS-1); Darin LaHood (R-IL-18); James Comer (R-KY-1); Dwight Evans (D-PA-3); Don Bacon (R-NE-2); Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA-44); Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE-AL); Anthony G. Brown (D-MD-4); Salud O. Carbajal (D-CA-24); J. Luis Correa (D-CA-46); Val Butler Demings (D-FL-10); Neal P. Dunn (R-FL-2); Adriano Espaillat (D-NY-13); A. Drew Ferguson IV (R-GA-3); Brian K. Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1); Matt Gaetz (R-FL-1); Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX-15); Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-5); Steven Horsford (D-NV-4); Ro Khanna (D-CA-17); Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-8); David Kustoff (R-TN-8); Al Lawson, Jr. (D-FL-5); Brian J. Mast (R-FL-18); Stephanie N. Murphy (D-FL-7); Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ-1); Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-20); Jamie Raskin (D-MD-8); Lloyd Smucker (R-PA-11); Darren Soto (D-FL-9); Thomas R. Suozzi (D-NY-3); Jimmy Gomez (D-CA-34); John R. Curtis (R-UT-3); Conor Lamb (D-PA-17); Joseph D. Morelle (D-NY-25); Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA-5); Susan Wild (D-PA-7); Colin Z. Allred (D-TX-32); Cynthia Axne (D-IA-3); Angie Craig (D-MN-2); Dan Crenshaw (R-TX-2); Jason Crow (D-CO-6); Sharice Davids (D-KS-3); Madeleine Dean (D-PA-4); Veronica Escobar (D-TX-16); Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX-7); Russ Fulcher (R-ID-1); Sylvia R. Garcia (D-TX-29); Jesús G. "Chuy" García (D-IL-4); Mark E. Green (R-TN-7); Michael Guest (R-MS-3); Josh Harder (D-CA-10); Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-6); Andy Kim (D-NJ-3); Susie Lee (D-NV-3); Andy Levin (D-MI-9); Mike Levin (D-CA-49); Elaine G. Luria (D-VA-2); Lucy McBath (D-GA-6); Daniel Meuser (R-PA-9); Carol D. Miller (R-WV-3); Joe Neguse (D-CO-2); Chris Pappas (D-NH-1); Dean Phillips (D-MN-3); Kim Schrier (D-WA-8); Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ-11); Elissa Slotkin (D-MI-8); Abigail Davis Spanberger (D-VA-7); Greg Stanton (D-AZ-9); Haley M. Stevens (D-MI-11); Van Taylor (R-TX-3); William R. Timmons IV (R-SC-4); Lori Trahan (D-MA-3); David J. Trone (D-MD-6); Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14); Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ-2); Jennifer Wexton (D-VA-10); Dan Bishop (R-NC-9); Mike Garcia (R-CA-25); Thomas P. Tiffany (R-WI-7); Chris Jacobs (R-NY-27); Jake Auchincloss (D-MA-4); Cliff Bentz (R-OR-2); Stephanie I. Bice (R-OK-5); Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-GA-7); Jerry L. Carl (R-AL-1); Byron Donalds (R-FL-19); Pat Fallon (R-TX-4); Randy Feenstra (R-IA-4); Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI-5); Andrew R. Garbarino (R-NY-2); Carlos A. Gimenez (R-FL-26); Tony Gonzales (R-TX-23); Ashley Hinson (R-IA-1); Ronny Jackson (R-TX-13); Sara Jacobs (D-CA-53); Mondaire Jones (D-NY-17); Kaiali’i Kahele (D-HI-2); Young Kim (R-CA-39); Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM-3); Nancy Mace (R-SC-1); Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY-11); Kathy E. Manning (D-NC-6); Lisa C. McClain (R-MI-10); Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA-2); Barry Moore (R-AL-2); Blake D. Moore (R-UT-1); Frank J. Mrvan (D-IN-1); Troy E. Nehls (R-TX-22); Marie Newman (D-IL-3); Jay Obernolte (R-CA-8); Burgess Owens (R-UT-4); August Pfluger (R-TX-11); Deborah K. Ross (D-NC-2); Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27); Michelle Steel (R-CA-48); Marilyn Strickland (D-WA-10); Ritchie Torres (D-NY-15); Beth Van Duyne (R-TX-24); Nikema Williams (D-GA-5); Don Young (R-AK-AL); Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL-20); Michael F. Doyle (D-PA-18); G. K. Butterfield (D-NC-1); Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE-1); Theodore E. Deutch (D-FL-22); Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH-11); Tom Reed (R-NY-23); Steve Stivers (R-OH-15); Filemon Vela (D-TX-34); A. Donald McEachin (D-VA-4); Charlie Crist (D-FL-13); Antonio Delgado (D-NY-19); Debra A. Haaland (D-NM-1).

Nay (78): Ron Kind (D-WI-3); Louie Gohmert (R-TX-1); Gwen Moore (D-WI-4); Doug Lamborn (R-CO-5); Tom McClintock (R-CA-4); Eric A. "Rick" Crawford (R-AR-1); Paul A. Gosar (R-AZ-4); Andy Harris (R-MD-1); Thomas Massie (R-KY-4); Markwayne Mullin (R-OK-2); Scott Perry (R-PA-10); Chris Stewart (R-UT-2); Randy K. Weber, Sr. (R-TX-14); Brad R. Wenstrup (R-OH-2); Jason Smith (R-MO-8); Brian Babin (R-TX-36); Tom Emmer (R-MN-6); Jody B. Hice (R-GA-10); J. French Hill (R-AR-2); Seth Moulton (D-MA-6); Dan Newhouse (R-WA-4); David Rouzer (R-NC-7); Warren Davidson (R-OH-8); Jim Banks (R-IN-3); Jack Bergman (R-MI-1); Andy Biggs (R-AZ-5); Ted Budd (R-NC-13); Liz Cheney (R-WY-AL); Mike Gallagher (R-WI-8); Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN-9); Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-7); Mike Johnson (R-LA-4); Ron Estes (R-KS-4); Michael Cloud (R-TX-27); Troy Balderson (R-OH-12); James R. Baird (R-IN-4); Tim Burchett (R-TN-2); Sean Casten (D-IL-6); Ben Cline (R-VA-6); Jared F. Golden (D-ME-2); Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH-16); Lance Gooden (R-TX-5); Jahana Hayes (D-CT-5); Dusty Johnson (R-SD-AL); John Joyce (R-PA-13); Tom Malinowski (D-NJ-7); Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14); Ilhan Omar (D-MN-5); Katie Porter (D-CA-45); Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-7); Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA-14); John W. Rose (R-TN-6); Pete Stauber (R-MN-8); Bryan Steil (R-WI-1); W. Gregory Steube (R-FL-17); Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13); Michael Waltz (R-FL-6); Fred Keller (R-PA-12); Gregory F. Murphy (R-NC-3); Lauren Boebert (R-CO-3); Jamaal Bowman (D-NY-16); Cori Bush (D-MO-1); Kat Cammack (R-FL-3); Madison Cawthorn (R-NC-11); Andrew S. Clyde (R-GA-9); Michelle Fischbach (R-MN-7); Scott Franklin (R-FL-15); Bob Good (R-VA-5); Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14); Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-1); Yvette Herrell (R-NM-2); Jake LaTurner (R-KS-2); Tracey Mann (R-KS-1); Peter Meijer (R-MI-3); Mary E. Miller (R-IL-15); Matthew M. Rosendale, Sr. (R-MT-AL); Victoria Spartz (R-IN-5); Jackie Walorski (R-IN-2).

Not voting (27): Ken Calvert (R-CA-42); Kevin Brady (R-TX-8); Kay Granger (R-TX-12); Michael K. Simpson (R-ID-2); Sam Graves (R-MO-6); Bill Posey (R-FL-8); Jeff Duncan (R-SC-3); Bob Gibbs (R-OH-7); Vicky Hartzler (R-MO-4); Daniel Webster (R-FL-11); Andy Barr (R-KY-6); Rodney Davis (R-IL-13); Doug LaMalfa (R-CA-1); Garret Graves (R-LA-6); Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11); Jodey C. Arrington (R-TX-19); Clay Higgins (R-LA-3); John H. Rutherford (R-FL-4); Ralph Norman (R-SC-5); Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-8); Kevin Hern (R-OK-1); Kelly Armstrong (R-ND-AL); Greg Pence (R-IN-6); Chip Roy (R-TX-21); Devin Nunes (R-CA-22); Jim Hagedorn (R-MN-1); Ron Wright (R-TX-6).

Speaker, not listed (1): Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12).

Not in office (17): Claudia Tenney (R-NY-22); Julia Letlow (R-LA-5); Troy A. Carter (D-LA-2); Melanie A. Stansbury (D-NM-1); Jake Ellzey (R-TX-6); Shontel M. Brown (D-OH-11); Mike Carey (R-OH-15); Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL-20); Connie Conway (R-CA-22); Mayra Flores (R-TX-34); Mike Flood (R-NE-1); Brad Finstad (R-MN-1); Mary Sattler Peltola (D-AK-AL); Patrick Ryan (D-NY-19); Joseph Sempolinski (R-NY-23); Rudy Yakym III (R-IN-2); Cedric L. Richmond (D-LA-2).

Summary

Main subject: Creates a one-time exception to the rule in section 113(a) of title 10, United States Code, that bars appointing a person as Secretary of Defense within seven years of relief from active duty as a regular commissioned officer of the Armed Forces. Sec. 1

Its core areas: Eligibility for appointment as Secretary of Defense; Waiver of the seven-year limit after active duty service for one appointment.

Unexpected Items: 1 provision

These provisions fall outside the bill’s main subject or apply narrowly. This describes the text; it is not a judgment.

Exception or delay for a subset (1)

What it does

Written automatically from the official text by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model. Written 15 Oct 2026 and published after the automatic checks, without a person reading it first. Every line names the section it came from.

Sources