Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was chosen because the "designated survivor" throughout this 12 months's State of the Union, CBS Information has confirmed. The designated survivor doesn't attend the speech on the Capitol and stays away from the campus in order that they're on the able to take over the federal government if disaster strikes.
There was no designated survivor named in 2021 since solely 200 members attended the speech as a consequence of COVID-19 protocols.
Naming a chosen survivor is a convention that dates again to the Chilly Struggle, in keeping with the Structure Middle.
The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 created a line of succession if the president dies or is incapacitated. First to take workplace can be the vice chairman, adopted by the speaker of the U.S. Home (Nancy Pelosi) and the president professional tempore of the U.S. Senate (Patrick Leahy).
The subsequent folks in line are within the Cupboard: The secretary of state (Antony Blinken), treasury secretary (Janet Yellen), protection secretary (Lloyd Austin), lawyer basic (Merrick Garland), secretary of the inside (Deb Haaland), secretary of agriculture (Tom Vilsack) and so forth. As a result of all these folks will likely be current for the speech, the White Home names a chosen survivor to take over the federal government.
The primary time a chosen survivor was named was in 1981, when the White Home selected then-Training Secretary Terrel Bell. Since then, a chosen survivor has been named in the course of the president's joint session addresses, State of the Unions and inaugurations.
In 2020, then-Inside Secretary David Bernhardt was the designated survivor.