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(CNN) — Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins is this year’s designated survivor, according to a White House official, retreating from Washington to an undisclosed location during President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday evening.
Collins will stay away from the US Capitol, fulfilling the annual task of remaining outside the House chamber during the president’s speech in case disaster strikes.
Collins became Veterans Affairs secretary on February 5.
The Veterans Affairs secretary is 17th in the presidential line of succession, which was outlined in the Presidential Succession Act of 1792 and updated during the Truman administration’s Presidential Succession Act of 1947.
For Trump’s first speech to Congress in 2017, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin was the designated survivor. The next year, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue had the honor. Energy Secretary Rick Perry held the role in 2019, and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt in 2020.
Most of Trump’s Cabinet picks for his new term have been confirmed by Congress. Trump’s selection for Labor secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, has not been confirmed and therefore is not eligible to be in the line of succession.
This is the current presidential line of succession:
- Vice President JD Vance
- House Speaker Mike Johnson
- Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
- Attorney General Pamela Bondi
- Interior Secretary Doug Burgum
- Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins
- Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick
- Labor Secretary [not confirmed]
- Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
- Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy
- Energy Secretary Chris Wright
- Education Secretary Linda McMahon
- Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins
- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem
The-CNN-Wire
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