Doug Collins serves as designated survivor throughout Trump State of the Union

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Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins served because the designated survivor throughout President Donald Trump’s State of the Union tackle, a long-standing safety precaution meant to protect continuity of presidency within the occasion of a disaster.

Collins was additionally tasked with the position final 12 months.

Collins didn't attend the joint session of Congress. As an alternative, he was escorted to a safe, undisclosed location throughout the tackle. The id of the designated survivor is often made public on the day of the speech, after the person has been safely relocated.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins was the designated survivor for the State of the Union tackle. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Pictures)

The position is a part of the federal authorities’s continuity-of-government planning — a framework designed to make sure that constitutional management and core operations can proceed if a catastrophic assault or catastrophe had been to incapacitate officers gathered on the Capitol.

The State of the Union presents a novel safety concern as a result of it brings collectively the president, vp, members of Congress, the Supreme Courtroom and far of the Cupboard in a single location.

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President Donald Trump delivered the longest-ever State of the Union tackle on Feb. 24, 2026. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu/Getty Pictures)

Beneath the Presidential Succession Act, if a devastating occasion had been to happen and people forward within the line of succession had been killed or incapacitated, the designated survivor — offered they meet constitutional necessities — could possibly be sworn in as president.

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The designated survivor is a member of the Cupboard that doesn't attend the State of the Union tackle. (Win McNamee/Getty Pictures)

The apply dates again to the Chilly Battle, when fears of a nuclear strike prompted new safeguards to guard the continuity of American management.

Whereas the designated survivor has by no means been referred to as upon to imagine the presidency, the position stays a visual image of the in depth safety and contingency planning surrounding main nationwide occasions.