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,

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.

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