§629 Removal from a list of officers recommended for promotion

Summary

The President can take an officer’s name off a list of people recommended for promotion. If the name is removed for any reason other than misconduct, the President must tell the congressional defense committees within 30 days. If the Senate does not confirm an officer for a grade that needs Senate approval, that officer’s name is removed. If the officer is not appointed during the “promotion eligibility period,” the name is removed unless the Senate has confirmed before the period ends. The promotion eligibility period starts when the list is approved and ends on the first day of the eighteenth month after the month of approval. The President may extend that period by 12 months before it ends. The removal-for-not-being-appointed rule does not apply when the military department cannot give the Senate information because another federal department or agency controls it. Also, under department rules, if an officer is discharged, dropped, or put on retired status after being recommended but before promotion, the name is removed. An officer whose name is removed under these rules can still be considered by the next selection board. If that board recommends the officer and the officer is promoted, the service Secretary may give the same date of rank, pay start date, and place on the active list the officer would have had if the name had not been removed. If the officer is below the grade of colonel (or below captain in the Navy) and is not recommended by the next board, or is removed again, or the Senate again does not confirm, the officer is treated as having failed promotion selection twice.