§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 a promotion needs Senate approval and the Senate does not confirm the officer, the officer’s name is taken off the list. If the officer is not actually appointed during the “promotion eligibility period” (which starts when the list is approved and ends on the first day of the eighteenth month after the month the list was approved), the name is removed unless the Senate has already given its approval. The President may extend that period by 12 months before it ends. The removal rule does not apply if the military department cannot get information the Senate needs because that information is held by another federal department or agency. Under rules from the Secretary, an officer who leaves active duty (is discharged, dropped, or moved to retired status) after being recommended but before promotion will be removed from the list. An officer whose name was removed under the rules above can still be picked by the next selection board. If promoted then, the Secretary may give the officer the same rank date, pay date, and active-duty spot as if the name had not been removed. If an officer below colonel (or below Navy captain) is not picked by the next board, or is removed again, or the Senate again refuses confirmation, that officer is treated as having failed selection twice.