--- title: Trump Congress Address: This Is The Designated Survivor description: If there's an attack on the Capitol during President Trump's address to Congress, David Shulkin would become president. canonical: https://time.com/4686345/trump-congress-address-designated-survivor/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-01T02:14:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:35:17.890Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Congress Address: This Is The Designated Survivor og:description: If there's an attack on the Capitol during President Trump's address to Congress, David Shulkin would become president. og:url: https://time.com/4686345/trump-congress-address-designated-survivor/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta336da013b585283/6988bc7d0a4a22d8109cd1d9/shulkin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5143 og:image:height: 2893 og:image:alt: Secretary of Veterans' Affairs-designate David Shulkin testifies during a Senate Veterans' Affairs confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Feb. 1, 2017. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Congress Address: This Is The Designated Survivor twitter:description: If there's an attack on the Capitol during President Trump's address to Congress, David Shulkin would become president. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta336da013b585283/6988bc7d0a4a22d8109cd1d9/shulkin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Meet the 'Designated Survivor' for President Trump's Address to Congress > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=000ecda8-f174-476a-bddd-8ac393cfe4a5&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 1, 2017 2:14 AM UTC  Secretary of Veterans' Affairs-designate David Shulkin testifies during a Senate Veterans' Affairs confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Feb. 1, 2017 Secretary of Veterans' Affairs-designate David Shulkin testifies during a Senate Veterans' Affairs confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Feb. 1, 2017 Zach Gibson—AFP/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 1, 2017 2:14 AM UTC If there’s an attack on the Capitol during [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4686231/donald-trump-state-union-immigration-reform/)‘s [address to Congress](http://time.com/4686621/trump-congress-address-transcript/?xid=time%5Fsocialflow%5Ftwitter), Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin would become president. Shulkin, who also served as VA secretary under the Obama Administration, is the evening’s “designated survivor.” The tradition of choosing a designated survivor, someone who is held offsite in a secret location in the event of a tragedy, [originated during the Cold War](http://time.com/4501297/designated-survivor-abc-kiefer-sutherland/?iid=sr-link1), when there was fear about a nuclear attack killing the nation’s leaders. It took on serious significance again following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. **Read Next**: [Here Are Some Constitutional Plot Twists Hollywood Should Consider](http://time.com/4587936/constitution-hollywood/?iid=sr-link7) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4686345/trump-congress-address-designated-survivor/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4686345/trump-congress-address-designated-survivor/"},"headline":"Meet the 'Designated Survivor' for President Trump's Address to Congress","datePublished":"2017-03-01T02:14:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:35:17.890Z","description":"If there's an attack on the Capitol during President Trump's address to Congress, David Shulkin would become president.","url":"https://time.com/4686345/trump-congress-address-designated-survivor/","keywords":["Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta336da013b585283/6988bc7d0a4a22d8109cd1d9/shulkin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta336da013b585283/6988bc7d0a4a22d8109cd1d9/shulkin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Secretary of Veterans' Affairs-designate David Shulkin testifies during a Senate Veterans' Affairs confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Feb. 1, 2017.","caption":"Secretary of Veterans' Affairs-designate David Shulkin testifies during a Senate Veterans' Affairs confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Feb. 1, 2017.","creditText":"Zach Gibson—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4686345/trump-congress-address-designated-survivor/","name":"Meet the 'Designated Survivor' for President Trump's Address to Congress"}}]}] ```