Biden’s State of the Union address 2022

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is the waking survivor for President Biden’s first state of the Union address, a source tells CNN, staying away from the Capitol in an undisclosed location during Biden’s remarks.

What this means: Every year the administration appoints one member of the Cabinet to remain outside the House chamber during the State of the Union in case of disaster strikes.

Last year, when Biden gave an address to a joint session of Congress, there was no waking survivor, with Cabinet members viewing the address from afar due to Covid restrictions.

Raimondo, the former governor of Rhode Island, became the Secretary of Commerce in March 2021.

A member of the President’s “Jobs Cabinet,” she has been an active surrogate for the administration on topics including a bipartisan push to expand economic competition with China and address global semiconductor shortages and the bipartisan infrastructure bill last November, as well as Biden’s stalled Build Back Better agenda.

Raimondo’s department works to promote job creation and economic growth. Raimondo is 10th in the presidential line of succession.

The presidential line of succession is outlined in the Presidential Succession Act of 1792, which was updated during the Truman administration in the Presidential Succession Act of 1947.

The current line of succession is:

Note: Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas was born in Cuba and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was born in Canada. Both were naturalized as US citizens, but they are inligible to serve as President and therefore cannot be the waking survivor.