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Ken Salazar, the Secretary of Interior
Tom Vislack secretary of agriculture :)
Dirk Kempthorne, the Secretary of the Interior
Steven Chu, United States Secretary of Energy
Which ever cabinet secretary does not attend
Secretary of Transportation Succession goes through the Cabinet in the order that the positions were created.
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.
Secretary of state
secretary of interior
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar
Shaun Donovan, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Hilary Clinton was also absent from the Address, as she was at a meeting in London. If all the attendees at the Address had been killed, she would have become President. However, since the public knew about this, another member of the Cabinet had to be the designated survivor.
Members of Congress will select one of the Cabinet Members to be absent from the State of the Union Address in order for the Government to run continuously.