Who is the designated survivor of 2023? One chosen Cabinet member to miss Joe Biden's State of the Union address
WASHINGTON, DC: Labor Secretary Marty Walsh is chosen as the designated survivor for the 2023 State of the Union as President Joe Biden is all set to deliver his State of the Union (SOTU) speech on Tuesday, February 7. In 2022, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was chosen as the designated survivor for Biden's SOTU.
Walsh will be the first Senate-confirmed Cabinet official in the line of succession to leave the White House since Biden took office, as per The Hill. Here are more details on who is a designated survivor and what are their responsibilities.
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Who is the designated survivor of 2023?
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh has been chosen as the designated survivor of 2023. The labor secretary is the 11th in the presidential line of succession. Meanwhile, he will be the first Senate-confirmed Cabinet official in the line of succession to leave the White House since Biden assumed charge. Walsh has been famous for his key role in negotiations between railroad operators and union workers to avoid a strike in the country earlier this year, as per The Hill. He was sworn in as the 29th Secretary of Labor on March 23, 2021. He has majorly focused on creating good jobs, protecting workers' rights, expanding mental health treatment, and investing in public transit, according to US Department of Labor. He has worked as the Mayor of the City of Boston. Walsh is a graduate of Political Science from Boston College. Walsh plans to leave administration to head the NHL Players’ Association, as per Politico.
Why is there a designated survivor at the SOTU?
The designated survivor will be required to sit out at the State of the Union from an undisclosed location just in case calamity, disaster, attack, or an unforeseen event strikes when the government’s top officials are all assembled on Capitol Hill. During the speech, the vice president and both houses of Congress will be in attendance, so the designated survivor is usually chosen from further down the presidential line of succession, as per E&E News. A designated survivor must be eligible to be president, and if a higher-ranking successor survives a potential calamity or mass attack, that person becomes president.
Who were the previously designated survivors?
Some of the previously designated survivors include Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, David Bernhardt, Rick Perry, Sonny Perdue, David Shulkin, Jeh Johnson, and Orrin Hatch.
When did the tradition of designated survivors originate?
"The procedure apparently originated in the late 1950s during the Cold War, and the federal government publicly didn’t acknowledge a designated survivor by name until 1981, when it later said Education Secretary Terrel Bell was absent from a joint session of Congress addressed by President Ronald Reagan as the Designated Survivor," claims National Constitution Centre. Meanwhile, “The designated survivor has most frequently been a Secretary from the Departments of Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce (though other executive-branch department heads have been designated, as well),” according to the Congressional Research Service. However, the presidential line of succession is outlined in the Presidential Succession Act of 1792 and it was updated during the Truman administration in the Presidential Succession Act of 1947. After the vice president, the speaker of the House, the Senate president pro tempore, and the secretaries of State, Treasury, and Defense are next in the line of succession, as per CNN.