--- title: VA Secretary Is Designated Survivor For Trump Speech description: Doug Collins, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, is reportedly serving as the designated survivor during President Trump's joint address. canonical: https://time.com/7264551/trump-speech-designated-survivor/ author: Rebecca Schneid article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-03-05T02:20:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:50:06.236Z article:section: Politics og:title: VA Secretary Is Designated Survivor For Trump Speech og:description: Doug Collins, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, is reportedly serving as the designated survivor during President Trump's joint address. og:url: https://time.com/7264551/trump-speech-designated-survivor/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta53c58371660fd14/6998c49ed32e935ea8cd6cb5/Secretary-Doug-Collins.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: Senate Nomination Hearing Held For Doug Collins To Be Veterans Affairs Secretary og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: VA Secretary Is Designated Survivor For Trump Speech twitter:description: Doug Collins, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, is reportedly serving as the designated survivor during President Trump's joint address. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta53c58371660fd14/6998c49ed32e935ea8cd6cb5/Secretary-Doug-Collins.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # VA Secretary Is Designated Survivor For Trump's Joint Address to Congress > Sponsored content. 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It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=210ba127-3486-4e5b-a316-e18786d45ef6&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Subscribers | 85,000 | TIME, August 2026 | | Open rate | 37.0% | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### 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. ## Video: Watch: Trump’s Speech to Joint Session of Congress [Watch (HLS stream): Watch: Trump’s Speech to Joint Session of Congress](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/207P7S6k.m3u8) (3:20:02)  _Published 2025-03-04. President Donald Trump delivers the first joint congressional address of his second presidency. The address to members of Congress is Trump’s first since he was sworn in as President for the second time on Jan. 20. Presidents typically address a joint session of Congress soon after they take office and use it as an opportunity to go over their agenda._  by [Rebecca Schneid](https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/)  ## Rebecca Schneid Reporter Mar 5, 2025 2:20 AM UTC  Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins on Jan. 21, 2025. Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins on Jan. 21, 2025. Samuel Corum—Getty Images  by [Rebecca Schneid](https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/)  ## Rebecca Schneid Reporter Mar 5, 2025 2:20 AM UTC 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. Collins was revealed to be the designated survivor, according to multiple media reports. The practice ensures that the government can still run even if all those present at a large governmental event are wiped out—which is why some members of Congress also are kept separate to ensure that the legislative branch can continue to function. The practice began during the Cold War, when the idea of nuclear warfare was heavy on the minds of the U.S. government. In the event of a nuclear event wiping out the presidential line of succession in one go, the designated survivor is chosen so that they are eligible to be president, and could take up the mantle to lead the United States if need be. There are very few times in which all of America’s governmental leaders are in the same place, and thus it is rare that the designated survivor must be tapped—only a handful of times during each presidency, usually. The American Presidency Project at the University of California-Santa Barbara keeps a [running list](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/presidential-documents-archive-guidebook/annual-messages-congress-the-state-the-union-1) of designated survivors dating back to 1984 when Ronald Reagan was president. In [Politico Magazine](https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/10/20/donald-trump-nuclear-button-north-korea-215730/) in 2017, Dan Glickman, former United States Secretary of Agriculture under Bill Clinton, wrote about his experience as designated survivor, and spending the State of the Union address at his daughter’s apartment in New York City. “I don’t recall getting any specific instructions on what to do if the doomsday scenario happened. All I knew is that if necessary, I could turn to that military officer accompanying me, holding that 45-pound bag, and trigger a military response, including a nuclear strike,” Glickman wrote of his experience. “It felt like an awesome responsibility to put on one man’s shoulders, even if it was exceedingly unlikely the president—or in this case, the secretary of agriculture—would ever have to use it.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7264551/trump-speech-designated-survivor/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7264551/trump-speech-designated-survivor/"},"headline":"VA Secretary Is Designated Survivor For Trump's Joint Address to Congress","datePublished":"2025-03-05T02:20:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:50:06.236Z","description":"The practice of appointing a designated survivor began during the Cold War","url":"https://time.com/7264551/trump-speech-designated-survivor/","keywords":["Trump Administration"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta53c58371660fd14/6998c49ed32e935ea8cd6cb5/Secretary-Doug-Collins.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rebecca Schneid","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta53c58371660fd14/6998c49ed32e935ea8cd6cb5/Secretary-Doug-Collins.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Senate Nomination Hearing Held For Doug Collins To Be Veterans Affairs Secretary","caption":"Senate Nomination Hearing Held For Doug Collins To Be Veterans Affairs Secretary","creditText":"Samuel Corum—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/trump-administration/","name":"Trump Administration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7264551/trump-speech-designated-survivor/","name":"VA Secretary Is Designated Survivor For Trump's Joint Address to Congress"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch: Trump’s Speech to Joint Session of Congress","description":"President Donald Trump delivers the first joint congressional address of his second presidency. 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