With members of the presidential line of succession in the Capitol for President Trump's speech to the joint session of Congress, a designated survivor will be named to stay away in case of a catastrophic event.

A top government official named designated survivor to preserve the presidential line of succession in the event of a catastrophe.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins is this year’s designated survivor, according to a White House official, retreating from Washington to an undisclosed location during President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday evening.

There is one notable absence in the House chamber on Tuesday night for President Trump’s joint address: Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins. Collins, a former congressman from Georgia, is the “designated survivor,

The so-called "designated survivor" is a person in the presidential line of succession that is intentionally not in attendance at major presidential events, most commonly the State of the Union, to ensure someone could assume the office of the president in case of a catastrophic or mass-casualty event.

The designated survivor for a president's address to Congress starts the day as a Cabinet secretary and ends it that way, too, God willing.

Doug Collins, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, is reportedly serving as the designated survivor during President Trump's joint address.

Doug Collins, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, is reportedly serving as the designated survivor during President Donald Trump's joint congressional address on Tuesday night. The designated survivor is a person in the presidential line of succession—often a low-level Cabinet member—chosen to be kept separate from other executive branch officials when the government is all gathered in one place in the event of a catastrophic event.