Former Charlotte mayor Anthony Foxx is one national catastrophe away from becoming president of the United States. Foxx, the U.S. Transportation secretary, is the “designated survivor” for this year’s State of the Union speech.
Foxx will be protected by U.S. Secret Service at an undisclosed location during the State of the Union address. He is the one member of the Cabinet who will not be at the Capitol for President Barack Obama’s annual address, the White House confirmed.
The vice president, speaker of the House, Cabinet secretaries, Supreme Court justices and others will be sitting together tonight in the U.S. Capitol to listen to the president’s speech. The designated survivor’s role is to stay far away to be ready to take over the government in the event those above him in the line of succession for the Oval Office are killed.
Past designated survivors have included Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack, and Attorney General Eric Holder.