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The interim status of much of President Trump's cabinet has had an unexpected consequence for the state of the Union: it has limited the number of secretaries that the White House could choose as so-called "Survivor" of the president's speech Tuesday night. .
Legal and parliamentary experts, as well as former officials of the administration, have said that the designated survivor – who would succeed the presidency if an unspeakable catastrophe occurred on Capitol Hill and exterminated the country's rulers – had to be confirmed by its president. in the Senate.
This would, in theory, eliminate current Cabinet officials, such as Acting Attorney General Matthew G. Whitaker, Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, and Acting Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, all of whom sit on an acting basis, although Bernhardt hired for work permanently on Monday.
"It has to be someone who is in the line of succession and the people who are acting are not," said Chris Lu, secretary of the Cabinet at the White House. Obama and who helped select survivors for several speeches this administration.
A White House official announced Tuesday night that Energy Secretary Rick Perry would be designated as the state's survivor of the Union, which means that 39, he will be held in a very secret place until Trump has returned to the White House after the speech. .
The former survivors appointed under the Trump administration were the Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Lost last year and David Shulkin, the former Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in 2017. [19659007OfcoursealternatecabinetofficialscanstillattendtheUnionYettheinterimleaderswhowilloccupythesepositionswillonlyhighlighttheimportantpartofhiscabinetthatremainswithoutpermanentleadersconfirmedbytheSenateInadditiontothepositionofAttorneyGeneralandtheSecretariesofDefenseandInteriorTrump'sCabinetincludesanActingDirectoroftheEnvironmentalProtectionAgencyaDirectoroftheOfficeofManagementandBudgetandanactingchiefofstaffoftheWhiteHouse
"All you have to do is go through the ranks of this government to see how many of those who are in the estate are absurd, if you are thinking about a time of crisis when you need somebody able to take on the job, "said Norm Ornstein, a resident researcher at the American Enterprise Institute
The unusually high number of acting Cabinet members has sparked the concern of Senate Republicans, who have urged the president to appoint permanent people to these positions and other lower-level vacancies throughout the administration.But Trump did not share their urgency, claiming in an interview with CBS News that he liked the acting officials because "it gives me more flexibility."
The Presidential Succession Act of 1947, which defines the order of Congress and Cabinet representatives who will assume If the President were to be released, the successors must be appointed "in the opinion of the Senate with his consent".
"It is extremely clear that in this estate, the Cabinet members must be confirmed by the Senate," said Nina Mendelson, a law professor at the University of Michigan. "A Cabinet official who simply acts" is legally prevented from exercising presidential authority. "
Mendelson noted, however, that the law does not make it clear whether the acting Cabinet official would be excluded from the presidential line of succession if he had been confirmed by the Senate to another position." Shanahan and Bernhardt were confirmed in as deputy secretaries, but not in their current acting position
Various Supreme Court opinions – one from 1893 and the other from 1994 – authorized the representatives of the administration to circumvent the confirmation of a different government position, as they had already been confirmed to a position with similar responsibilities, said Mendelson.
"In the end, the law is not clear at 100 %, but it is very doubtful that Shanahan could legally act as president, "said Mendelson, taking the example of the acting secretary of defense." A Cabinet official confirmed by e Senate should be designated to regularize the state of the Union. "
The 1947 law also states that the line of succession would apply only to persons constitutionally entitled to exercise the functions of president. This means that Elaine Chao, the current secretary of the Taiwan-based Ministry of Transport, could not be the designated survivor since she is not a naturally born citizen.
The tradition of the designated survivor dates back to the Cold War era, when the administrations began to choose a Cabinet member to attend a major event, fearing that the Soviet Union could annihilate the country's leaders by only one attack.
This Cabinet official, who is generally informed of this responsibility several days in advance, is taken to a secret and secure place by the secret services. He is informed of what will happen in an emergency, dines and looks at the speech. Once the president returns to the White House, the designated survivor is relieved of his duties.
million. Lu, the former Obama official, said that he had taken into account several factors to select the Cabinet member who would separate from a state of the Union or to Speech of the same importance on Capitol Hill. He would see if a Cabinet member was already traveling around the speech and if this secretary could go to a safe place wherever they are.
Lu would also examine the themes of Obama's speech and try not to ask a Cabinet official whose policy areas are presented to deviate from the speech. Lu, for example, recalled that he had asked Eric Holder, then Attorney General, to designate the survivor of Obama's February 2009 speech to Congress at a joint session of Congress, which was putting Focus on Obama's willingness to pass the economic stimulus bill.
He will also try not to ask a Cabinet member not to deliver a speech more than once. Lu said he wanted to show the gender diversity of the Obama Cabinet. Thus, a woman would not serve as a survivor during Obama's speeches.
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