Trump's speech: Do you know US president has successor if tragic event occurs? What designated survivor means

DO you know US president has successor if tragic event occurs?

What designated survivor means Trump's speech: Who is a designated survivor? How is he or she chosen and when can he or she replace the US president?

US President Donald Trump delivered the first joint congressional address of his second presidency on Tuesday night.

Top leaders of the US government attended the event but one cabinet member didn't. He was appointed the "designated survivor".

Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins was the "designated survivor" this year, a White House official told US media.

Usually, a cabinet member who is in the line of succession for precedency is chosen as a designated survivor. He or she does not attend the joint session of Congress so that there will be a leader available to step up in case of a catastrophic event.

The concept of designated survivor combines the people's inherent fascination with danger and the romance of an “everyman” being thrust into the presidency.

“The idea of, you’re just a random Cabinet official, and then something terrible happens and, all of a sudden, you’re president of the United States,” historian and journalist Garrett M. Graff told the Associated Press.

From April 1980, the White House Military Office tasked the Federal Emergency Management Agency with ensuring succession.

An aide was directed to recommend to the president who should skip events when all possible successors were together outside the White House, the Associated Press reported.

  The first time that a Cabinet member being kept away from a presidential speech to Congress was publicly divulged was President Ronald Reagan’s Education Secretary Terrel Bell in 1981. But Bell wasn’t identified until afterwards.

According to CBS News, the practice of appointing a "designated survivor" is believed to have started during the Cold War in the 1950s, but it was not until 1981 that the first official designated survivor was named.

How do they choose the designated survivor? It's not clear how the administration chooses a designated survivor since the process is classified.

 The person must be eligible to serve as president. When can a US president be replaced? The US president of the United States may be replaced if he or she: Becomes incapacitated Dies Resigns Is unable to hold office Is removed from office.

Who else can replace US president? Here's presidential line of succession Doug Collins, who was confirmed as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on February 4, was this year's designated survivor.

The Veterans Affairs Secretary is normally 17th in line for the presidency.

The US Constitution and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 outline the presidential order of succession. The line of succession of cabinet officers is in the order of their agencies’ creation.

Vice President Speaker of the House President Pro Tempore of the Senate Secretary of State Secretary of the Treasury Secretary of Defense Attorney General Secretary of the Interior Secretary of Agriculture Secretary of Commerce Secretary of Labor Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Secretary of Transportation Secretary of Energy Secretary of Education Secretary of Veterans Affairs Secretary of Homeland Security Get free lounge access,

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