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Jeh Johnson is this year’s State of the Union ‘designated survivor’

WASHINGTON — If disaster strikes at the State of the Union, Jeh Johnson, the secretary of homeland security, could be the next president.

He won’t attend President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address Tuesday night, chosen as the White House’s “designated survivor” this year. Johnson has been headed up the Department of Homeland Security since 2013. He previously served as a general counsel at the Department of Defense.

Each year, the White House chief of staff picks a cabinet-level official as the so-called “designated survivor” to spend the State of the Union night in an undisclosed location. Read more…