After every State of the Union address, one member of the president’s cabinet is removed from Washington, D.C., and labeled a “designated survivor.” This is intended to ensure the safety of potential presidential successors in the event of a catastrophe during the State of the Union address. speech.
This precaution dates back to the Cold War and was “taken to ensure the continuity of the Presidency in the event that the President, Vice President, and other senior officials in the line of presidential succession were killed or disabled due to a catastrophe. “They gathered in the House chamber,” the official said. Congressional Research Service Report At the beginning of this year.
The identity of the designated survivor will be kept secret until around the time the speech begins, but that role last year was filled by former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh.
“I didn’t even know where I was going,” Walsh said. told the Washington Post. “God forbid something happens, but it’s too soon to think about it. It’s history. I’m the first person in American history to be appointed Secretary of Labor.”
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US President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. (Jacqueline Martin Poole/Getty Images)
In 2022, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo became a designated survivor, but before that, in 2021, there was no official designated survivor because ministers did not attend speeches due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The regulations provide that the designated survivor must be a natural-born U.S. citizen who is at least 35 years old and must have resided in the U.S. for the past 14 years.
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US President Joe Biden is pictured with Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su. (Photo by Demetrius Freeman/Washington Post via Getty Images)
by National Constitution Centerthe process began in the 1950s, but it was not until 1981 that the government began identifying designated survivors by name.
“Since then, designated survivors have been used in presidential addresses at the State of the Union, inaugurations, and joint sessions of Congress,” the National Constitution Center explained. “It is believed that the president will decide which ministers will be absent from these events with permission.”
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US Capitol Building in Washington DC (FOX News Photo/Joshua Commins)
Biden’s speech is scheduled to begin Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET on the House floor of the Capitol.
