Trump needs a “designated survivor” for his joint address to Congress. Here’s what it means and how it works.
President Trump’s speech Tuesday night It will be held before the interface of members of both houses of Congress and the entire presidential heirs – with one notable exception. Every year, a cabinet member is elected asDesignated survivor“Who will speak in the event of a catastrophic event.
The name of the designated survivor is usually not disclosed to the public until shortly before the speech begins, and sometimes after it begins.
What is the designated survivor?
The designated survivor is the informal name of the heirs who did not attend the joint meeting of Congress so that in the event of a catastrophic event, there will be a leader to strengthen.
The line of inheritance is first determined by Article 1 of the Constitution, but the Presidential Inheritance Act of 1947 sets the modern Inheritance line If something should happen to the president and he or she will not be able to assume his or her responsibilities. The first place in the presidency is Vice President JD Vance. After the Vice President is House Speaker Mike Johnson, the third place is Senate Pembo Chuck Grassley, fourth place, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, fifth place, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The line passed through other members of the Cabinet, in accordance with the orders of the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to create its department- Christie calls – Ranked 18th.
Since usually all of these people will attend a joint meeting of Congress, a designated survivor was chosen to stay away.
Why is there a practice of choosing a designated survivor?
Unlike the inheritance route, designated survivors are not constitutionally determined. This practice is believed to have begun during the Cold War in the 1950s, but it was not until 1981 that the first survivor appointed by the official was appointed Terrel Bell, then secretary of education.
How do they choose the designated survivor?
It is unclear how the government chooses designated survivors because the process is classified. The person must be eligible for president, so they must be a locally born U.S. citizen, at least 35 years of age. Several cabinet members have failed to meet these criteria over the years, including the former secretary of Madeleine Albright, who was born in what is now the Czech Republic and Germany-born Henry Kissinger.
Former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala was appointed as a survivor by President Bill Clinton in 1996 Tell ABC News In 2014, she showed her the Situation Room, where White House staff “seriously talked about the responsibilities of designated survivors.”
What does the designated survivor do in the speech?
There are some designated survivors willing to discuss what they do in their speeches. Bill Richardson, then-Energy Secretary, was designated as a survivor by Clinton in 2000, told ABC News in 2014 that he watched a speech at the home of a friend in Sherwood, Maryland, about 90 miles outside Washington.
“It’s fun. You’re sitting there.” My wife and my friends impressed the fire truck. ”
Former Agriculture Minister Dan Glickman wrote an article in 2017 politics About his experience after being selected. According to Glickman, who was taken to a safe location outside Washington (in his case, his daughter’s New York apartment), he wrote that he “was accompanied by important military personnel and Secret Service, including an officer who carried my presumptive nuclear football (black, leather-fixed aluminum profile) that the briefcase would be used to order the person on the nuclear strike identity to customize the person.”
“I don’t remember any specific explanation if the end of the world happened,” Grickman wrote. “What I know is that if necessary, I could turn to the officer who accompanied me, holding a 45-pound bag and triggering a military reaction, including a nuclear strike.”
Meanwhile, Shalala told ABC News that she stayed in Washington, waiting in the White House, and ordered pizza
“When he left, I saw the president.” “He said, ‘Don’t do anything I can’t do.'”
Who was appointed as a “survivor” in the past?
The designated survivors are usually members of the Cabinet, although the secretary of the Ministry of Defense and Finance has never been selected. No No designated survivors in 2021as only 200 members of Congress participated in the Congress during the 199 pandemic.
Here are the last few designated survivors and their positions at the time:
