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A designated survivor (or designated successor) is a member of the United States Cabinet who stays at a physically distant, secure, and undisclosed location when the President and the country’s other top leaders (e.g., vice president, secretary of state) are gathered at a single location, such as during State of the Union Addresses and presidential inaugurations. This maintains continuity of government with regard to presidential succession in the remote possibility of a catastrophic event which might wipe out large portions of the United States’ federal government, including the entire slate of individuals designated by law in the line of succession to the presidency. Since U.S. law does not provide for anyone to assume the office of president if everyone on this list is simultaneously killed, the practice of designating a survivor is intended to effectively eliminate the chance of that happening.

— Designated survivor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia