15 U.S.C. § 1501
Section 1501 · Establishment of Department; Secretary; seal
This is the Sherman Antitrust Act
Amended 6 times on record
Applied in 60 court decisions — leading case Silent Drive, Inc. v. Strong Industries, Inc. (2003)
Most recently applied in United States v. Arthrex, Inc. (June 2021)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
There shall be at the seat of government an executive department to be known as the Department of Commerce, and a Secretary of Commerce, who shall be the head thereof, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and whose term and tenure of office shall be like that of the heads of the other executive departments; and the provisions of title 4 of the Revised Statutes, including all amendments thereto, shall be applicable to said department. The said Secretary shall cause a seal of office to be made for the said department of such device as the President shall approve, and judicial notice shall be taken of the said seal.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
References in Text
Title 4 of the Revised Statutes, referred to in text, was entitled “Provisions Applicable to All Executive Departments”, and consisted of R.S. §§158 to 198. For provisions of the Code derived from such title 4, see sections 101, 301, 303, 304, 503, 2952, 3101, 3106, 3341, 3345 to 3349, 5535, 5536 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees; section 207 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure; sections 514, 520 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure; section 3321 of Title 31, Money and Finance.
Codification
Section was formerly classified to section 591 of Title 5 prior to the general revision and enactment of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, by Pub. L. 89 554, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 378.
Transfer of Functions
A Department of Labor, under charge of a Commissioner of Labor, was established by act June 13, 1888, ch. 380, 25 Stat. 182, and by section 9 of that act, the Bureau of Labor created under act June 27, 1884, ch. 127, 23 Stat. 60, was to cease on the organization of the Department. The Department of Commerce and Labor, as an Executive Department, with a Secretary of Commerce and Labor as the head thereof, was established by act Feb. 14, 1903, ch. 552, 32 Stat. 825, and by section 4 of that act, the Department of Labor was placed under the jurisdiction and made a part of the Department of Commerce and Labor with various other offices, bureaus, and branches of the public service also transferred to and placed under the jurisdiction of the Department so established. In subsequent appropriation and other acts, the Department of Labor was designated as the Bureau of Labor in that Department. But by act March 4, 1913, ch. 141, 37 Stat. 736, a new executive department was created, to be called “The Department of Labor,” with a Secretary of Labor to be the head thereof, and the Department of Commerce and Labor was thereafter to be called the Department of Commerce, and the Secretary thereof to be called the Secretary of Commerce.
Functions of all other officers of Department of Commerce and functions of all agencies and employees of such Department, with a few exceptions, transferred to Secretary of Commerce, with power vested in him to authorize their performance or the performance of any of his functions by any such officers, agencies, and employees by Reorg. Plan No. 5 of 1950, §§1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1263, set out below.
Deputy Secretary of Commerce
For provisions directing the President to appoint a Deputy Secretary of Commerce, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, with the Deputy Secretary to receive compensation at the rate payable for Level II of the Executive Schedule and with the Deputy Secretary to perform such duties and exercise such powers as the Secretary may from time to time prescribe, see section 2(b)(1) of 1979 Reorg. Plan No. 3, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Creation of the Office of Deputy Secretary of Commerce by section 2(b)(1) of 1979 Reorg. Plan. No. 3 effective Dec. 7, 1979, see Ex. Ord. 12175, set out as a note under section 2171 of Title 19, Customs Duties.
Order of Succession
For order of succession in case of absence, disability or vacancy in office of both the Secretary and Deputy Secretary, see Ex. Ord. No. 11880, Oct. 2, 1975, 40 F.R. 46089, as amended, set out as a note under section 3347 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.