44 U.S.C. § 304
Section 304 · Public Printer: vacancy in office
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case Hotch v. United States (1954)
Most recently applied in Hotch v. United States (March 1954)
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.
In case of the death, resignation, absence, or sickness of the Director of the Government Publishing Office, the Deputy Director of the Government Publishing Office shall perform the duties of the Director of the Government Publishing Office until a successor is appointed or the Director's absence or sickness ceases; but the President may direct any other officer of the Government, whose appointment is vested in the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to perform the duties of the vacant office until a successor is appointed, or the sickness or absence of the Director of the Government Publishing Office ceases. A vacancy occasioned by death or resignation may not be filled temporarily under this section for longer than ten days, and a temporary appointment, designation, or assignment of another officer may not be made except to fill a vacancy happening during a recess of the Senate.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on 44 U.S. Code, 1964 ed., §32 (Jan. 12, 1895, ch. 23, §36, 28 Stat. 606; May 27, 1908, ch. 200, §1, 35 Stat. 382.)
Amendments
2014—Pub. L. 113–235, §1301(i)(1), substituted "or the Director's" for "or his".
Pub. L. 113–235, §1301(e)(1), substituted "Deputy Director of the Government Publishing Office" for "Deputy Public Printer".
Pub. L. 113–235, §1301(c), substituted "Director of the Government Publishing Office" for "Public Printer" in section catchline and wherever appearing in text.