By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 179 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (5 U.S.C. 6), I hereby authorize and direct the Assistant Secretaries of Labor, in the order of the date of their commissions, to perform the duties of the office of the Secretary of Labor in case of the absence, sickness, resignation, or death of both the Secretary of Labor and the Under Secretary of Labor; and I also authorize and direct the Solicitor of Labor to perform the duties of the office of the Secretary of Labor in case of the absence, sickness, resignation, or death of the Secretary of Labor, the Under Secretary of Labor, and the Assistant Secretaries of Labor.
HARRY S. TRUMAN
THE WHITE HOUSE,
June 17, 1948
Harry S Truman, Executive Order 9968—Designation of Certain Officers to Act as Secretary of Labor Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/278453