Since the entire federal government usually attends the State of the Union Message, it presents an opportunity, should there be a terrorist attack, that the persons next in line to succeed the President should he die in office, would also be killed. So it is the custom to have one cabinet member not attend the State of the Union. For President Obama's address on 27 January 2010, Secretary Hillary Clinton, Department of State, did not attend.
Ken Salazar sec of the interior. The one Obama made the salmon joke about
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was the designated Cabinet member not to attend the State of the Union Address in 2012
The secretary of housing Shaun Donovan
Ken Salazar--Interior secretary
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar
Ken Salazar, the Secretary of Interior
Tom Vislack secretary of agriculture :)
Dirk Kempthorne, the Secretary of the Interior
The presidential line of succession goes like this: 1) vice-president 2) Speaker of the Hosue 3) President Pro Tempore of the Senate 4) Members of the Cabinet in the order in which the departments were created. This means that if the president dies, resigns or is removed from office, the vice-president becomes president. If the president and vice-president die, resign or are removed from office, then the Speaker of the House becomes president, etc. etc. Since all 18 people in the presidential line of succession could potentially be at the president's state of the union address, one Cabinet member does not attend in case there would be some sort of disastrous bombing at the State of the Union Address that killed the president, vice-president, speaker of the house, president pro tempore of the senate and the Cabinet members. The surviving Cabinet member who is not at the state of the union address becomes president so that if nothing else, the American people know who their leader is. In 2008, the Cabinet member that did not attend was Dirk Kempthorne.
Which ever cabinet secretary does not attend
in Texas which cabinet member collection is responsible for texes
Secretary of Transportation Succession goes through the Cabinet in the order that the positions were created.
Secretary of State
Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior
Yes, she is; she heads the state department.
Most of them hold the title of Secretary of whatever department they head, Secretary of State being an example. The Attorney General heads the justice department. In years past, the Postmaster General was a cabinet member. The usual form of address is "Mr. (or Madame) Secretary", if that's what you were asking.