Education Secretary Miguel Cardona is the designated survivor in Thursday’s State of the Union address and will remain outside of the House chamber at a secure location, according to multiple reports.
Since virtually all of the officials in the line of succession to the presidency are in attendance at the speech, the president designates a survivor to assume his duties in the event of a disaster, a policy that dates back to the Truman administration.
Cardona, who became education secretary in 2021, is 15th in the line of succession.
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh was last year’s designated survivor.
Vice President Kamala Harris is first in the line of succession, followed by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray, D-Wash., Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
Biden kicked off his 2024 State of the Union address by attacking former President Donald Trump, without mentioning him by name, for Trump’s comments that Russia should “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO countries that don’t meet defense spending guidelines. Biden accused Trump of “bowing down to a Russian leader,” calling the comments “outrageous . . . dangerous” and “unacceptable.” He then pivoted to the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, reiterating familiar language from his campaign speeches and casting Trump as a threat to democracy. Biden is expected to call for a slew of new policies throughout the speech—considered the highest stakes address of his presidency—including ordering the U.S. military to establish a port in Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, new measures to curb prescription drug costs and a rule change to lower credit card “junk” fees. The address comes just eight months before the general election, when Biden is expected to face Trump in a historic rematch, despite voters’ concerns about both of their ages and relatively low approval ratings.
