What is a Designated Survivor of the US Government?

Manbilas Singh

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03-04-2025

6 min read

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As President Donald Trump delivered hisjoint address to Congress, one key member of his cabinet was absent from the event: Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins. He was chosen as this year’s designated survivor, a precautionary measure to ensure the continuity of government in the unlikely event of a catastrophic incident at the Capitol.

What is a Designated Survivor?

For every joint address and State of the Union speech delivered by the President to Congress, one cabinet member is selected to remain away from the gathering. This individual, known as the “designated survivor,” is positioned in a secure and undisclosed location to preserve the constitutional line of succession. Should an unprecedented disaster occur, rendering the President, Vice President, Speaker of the House, and other high-ranking officials unable to serve, the designated survivor would assume the presidency.

The tradition of appointing a designated survivor dates back to the Cold War era when concerns over nuclear threats made it necessary to ensure continuity in the federal government. The practice was publicly acknowledged in 1981 when Education Secretary Terrel Bell was absent from President Ronald Reagans address to Congress. Since then, the designated survivor has been a standard feature of major government events, including inaugurations and State of the Union addresses.

The Role of the Designated Survivor

The selection process for a designated survivor is not governed by any publicly available protocol, though there are certain eligibility requirements. The individual must be a natural-born U.S. citizen and at least 35 years old. While specific criteria for selection are not officially disclosed, former White House Cabinet Secretary Chris Lu noted that factors such as travel schedules, relevance to the speech’s topics, and prior service as a designated survivor may influence the decision.

Designated survivors typically learn about their role days or weeks in advance. However, their identity is kept secret until shortly before or during the event. Once chosen, the designated survivor is taken to a secure location, often accompanied by Secret Service agents, until the event concludes. Before the September 11, 2001, attacks, some designated survivors could select their location. Notable past examples include John Block, who stayed in a villa in Jamaica in 1986, and Dan Glickman, who watched the 1997 State of the Union address from his daughter’s apartment in New York City.

Doug Collins as the 2025 Designated Survivor

This year, the responsibility falls on Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins. As the 17th in the presidential line of succession, Collins would assume the presidency if an extreme situation incapacitated all higher-ranking officials in the line of succession. While such a scenario remains highly unlikely, his selection ensures that government continuity is maintained even in the worst-case scenario.

Previous Designated Survivors Under Trump

Throughout his first term, President Trump selected various cabinet members as designated survivors:

2017 Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin

2018 Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue

2019 Secretary of Energy Rick Perry

2020 Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt

The most frequently chosen cabinet position for this role has been the Secretary of the Interior, which has served as designated survivor seven times since 1984.