Collins, a former congressman from Georgia, was confirmed to Trump’s Cabinet on Feb. 5 and received the responsibilities of acting director of the United States Office of Government Ethics the following week.
The White House confirmed the selection to the Washington Examiner.
Each year, someone in the presidential line of succession is chosen not to attend the speech inside the Capitol in case of a catastrophic event.
The tradition of the designated survivor dates to the 1950s and the Cold War, when the threat of nuclear warfare was constant across the U.S. A Cabinet member is often chosen for the survivor role as Cabinet members are in the line of succession following the vice president, speaker of the House, and president pro tempore of the Senate.
In addition to the joint session of Congress, designated survivors are named for State of the Union addresses and presidential inaugurations, though no one was chosen for Trump’s recent inauguration.
They typically watch the speech in a remote location far from the Capitol.
The phrase also inspired the TV show Designated Survivor, which ran on ABC and Netflix from 2016 through 2019. In the show, a housing and urban development secretary, played by Kiefer Sutherland, suddenly becomes president due to an explosion during the State of the Union address.
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Congress also designates members of the House and Senate from each party to play a designated survivor role to keep the legislature alive in the case of a catastrophic event.
Previous designated survivors include former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, former Sen. Orrin Hatch, and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
