[Congressman Billybob]

Not so. During the State of the Union, one member of the Cabinet remains at a location away from Washington. Under a statute long in effect, passed under the Constitution, there is an order of succession. That order is:

President, Vice President, Speaker of the House, President Pro Tem of the Senate, and then the members of the Cabinet, beginning with the Secretary of State and taking the others in the order in which their Departments were created. The one who would survive, in the event of a nuclear destruction of Washington during a State of the Union address, would become President.

The Governors of the various states would then appoint replacement Senators, and call for immediate election of replacement Members of the House. The new President would nominate a new Vice President to be confirmed by the new Senate. He would also nominate a new Cabinet to be confirmed by the new Senate.

The new President would also order a retaliation that would reduce to a field of glass every enemy of the United States. A duplicate of the "football" would be with the Cabinet member who does NOT attend the SOTU.

All of this would be entirely in accord with both the Constitution of the United States, and its existing laws.

And that's the name of that tune.

Congressman Billybob

Click here, then click the blue CFR button, to join the anti-CFR effort (or visit the "Hugh & Series, Critical & Pulled by JimRob" thread). Please do it now.

[Kozak]

Not so. During the State of the Union, one member of the Cabinet remains at a location away from Washington

I stand corrected. I just hope the Cabinet member isn't Mineta.

[okie01]

"During the State of the Union, one member of the Cabinet remains at a location away from Washington. Under a statute long in effect, passed under the Constitution, there is an order of succession."

Does not one member of the Supreme Court also absent himself? So as to assure continuity in the Judicial branch?

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

The new President would also order a retaliation that would reduce to a field of glass every enemy of the United States.

Even those not responsible for the nuclear attack? How many millions do we kill and to what end?

I don't believe that part of the scenario. If China was responsible for such an attack and we retaliated against them with nukes, we'd blow up the factories making nearly everything now imported into and sold in America.