President Trump's speech Tuesday night will take place in front of members of both Houses of Congress and the entire presidential line of succession — with one notable exception. Each year, one Cabinet member is chosen as the "designated survivor" who will sit out the speech in case of a catastrophic event.

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

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.