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.

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.

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,

Secretary Linda McMahon's goals for restructuring the department include prioritizing parental decisions on their kids' education and eliminating DEI.

The former wrestling executive—and SBA administrator during Trump’s first term—takes charge of a department Trump has vilified and vowed to dismantle.