WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — UPDATE: Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has been selected as the designated survivor for President Joe Biden's State of the Union address, according to CBS News.
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When President Joe Biden speaks before Congress Tuesday night in his first State of the Union address, one person will not be present — the "designated survivor."
The unknown member of the president's cabinet will instead be tucked away at an undisclosed location to be ready to lead the nation should something catastrophic happen while our nation's leaders are gathered in one place.
While unlikely, taking such an extreme precaution is a practice that's reported to have occurred since the Cold War. Having a designated survivor for other events like Inauguration Day and presidential speeches before Congress is also common practice.
According to the National Constitution Center, the federal government didn't publicly acknowledge the designated survivor role until 1981. History.com reports it wouldn't be until three years later, in 1984, that the White House would begin releasing the designated survivor's name on the same day as the State of the Union address.
"It is believed the President makes the decision of which Cabinet member is absent with permission from these events," the National Constitution Center adds.
The American Presidency Project has kept a record of selected designated survivors since 1984. According to its record-keeping, the roles most commonly picked are the agriculture secretary and interior secretary. Each has been chosen seven times.
Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt was the most recent person to fill the role during former President Donald Trump's 2020 State of the Union address.
If you're scratching your head and wondering why there wasn't a designated survivor for Biden's first major address to Congress in April 2021, you can blame COVID-19.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed there wasn't a need for the designation given most of the Cabinet would not be attending the speech in person.
“There does not need to be a designated survivor because the Cabinet will be watching from their offices or home, but they will not be joining him for the speech,” she said at the time.
In instances where nearly all of our nation's leaders are not in the same space, the U.S. Constitution and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 detail a presidential order of succession.
Should the president become incapacitated, die, resign, or be removed from office they will be replaced in the following order: vice president, speaker of the House, president pro tempore of the Senate, secretary of state, secretary of the treasury, secretary of defense, attorney general and so on. You can find the full list here.
President Biden is set to address a Joint Session of Congress at the United States Capitol at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1.