# Designated Survivor Season Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 22, 2016, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556 "2016-09-22T02:44:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/81 "2016-10-03T01:17:22Z")
Appointing retired or former members of Congress would be a good idea. Congress needs experienced people to head the committees and lead the new members. I hope this show gets into the rebuilding of government. I know the conspiracy will be a big focus. But they can devote some time to rebuilding government too. I get the impression the Presidential election cycle just finished. Giving Kirkman 4 years. Then he has too run for the office. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/82 "2016-10-03T01:58:20Z")
I want to like this show because I’m a political wonk and this is such a great subject. I’m torn between wanting to kick in the screen because of the phony melodrama and feeling like reality would be even bigger melodrama. Letting the President go to the scene? Well, OK. Letting the public get that close? Never happen. Not within blocks. Running a White House with three people? OK, that’s television. Not having a Cabinet when every Deputy Secretary would immediately step up? That’s monkey-brained. What about his own Deputy at HUD? There’s no place they can go with a villain except the evil white guy conspiracy. That will kill the show eventually because, well a million reasons because including its stupidity, but in show terms because they’re going to have to drag the reveal out. A real conspiracy taking out the entire government of the U.S. would set itself up as a new government in the first 30 minutes. After that it’s too late. (The governor of Michigan should have been one of them and shouldn’t have backed down so quickly. How incompetent are the conspirators that they couldn’t get to him first? It was all over the Internet!) So there will be phony melodrama and phony who do we trust and phony who is secretly one of them and at some point I will kick in the screen. But maybe I’ll give it a few more episodes just to see how they handle succession issues. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/83 "2016-10-03T02:49:37Z")
I’m just finishing up episode 2 now. I’m struck by how unrealistically slow they are taking to rebuild the executive branch. Continuity of government would be top priority. If I had to guess I would say a Vice President would be named during the first address to the country. He wouldn’t have to ask for a cabinet. That’s what deputies are for. The cabinet would be there working through the problem. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/84 "2016-10-03T03:12:43Z")
The first address to the nation took place within hours of the attack, and only been 1 day since the attack. True, the deputy secretaries would all be acting heads of their departments, but it’ll be awhile before a Vice-President can be appointed. There’s no such this as an “Acting Vice-President”, and _both_ houses of Congress have to functioning in order to approve the appointment of one. At least the Cabinet & Supreme Court vacancies can be filled with recess appointments until the next general election. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/85 "2016-10-03T03:16:18Z")
The only thing a vice president is needed for is as backup, so it’s not a priority. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/86 "2016-10-03T03:48:14Z")
I’m puzzled about the young guy in the sweater, who I assume was the late president’s “body man.” But if so, how did he escape unharmed? Surely the body man wouldn’t just stay behind at the White House during the State of the Union address. His whole reason for existence is being with the President from waking until he retires to the residence. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/87 "2016-10-03T12:54:40Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The only thing a vice president is needed for is as backup, so it’s not a priority. Except, perhaps, when they have someone(s) actively gunning for the entire government. They need to name a VP and have him stashed in Colorado or Arizona or anyplace that isn’t D.C. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/88 "2016-10-04T12:37:36Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Except, perhaps, when they have someone(s) actively gunning for the entire government. They need to name a VP and have him stashed in Colorado or Arizona or anyplace that isn’t D.C. Exactly. There is someone unknown who was able to take out almost the entire government and now we are left with one guy and no clear succession after that. Maybe not the number one priority but in the top three would be to assure the world that the government will continue beyond just one guy. The 25th amendment says congress has to approve the choice for Vice President. Right now Virginia Madsen is congress. ---
**Author:** ![BlueOhio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@BlueOhio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueOhio)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/89 "2016-10-04T12:43:34Z")
I’m not sure what the tiny FBI woman does other than slink around very slowly. She sorts of - glides everywhere. Must be annoying to her coworkers. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/90 "2016-10-04T12:49:03Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > The 25th amendment says congress has to approve the choice for Vice President. Right now Virginia Madsen is congress. Actually, the 25th amendment says: _Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress._ Congresswoman Kimble Hookstraten (Virginia Madsen) is only one House of Congress. They need to dig up a senator in order to confirm a VP. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/91 "2016-10-04T13:34:26Z")
But do those two constitute a quorum? ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/92 "2016-10-04T14:10:27Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I mean the possibilty that everyone in the chain of command dying at once is going to seem insanely unlikely. So who gets chosen to stay away from the big event is going to be decided for much more mundane reasons. Like, which cabinet members project the image of the speech he’s giving. If the State of the Union contained a bunch of stuff about mortgage reform or homes in flood zones, I would imagine the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development would not have been the Designated Survivor. Also, the President wouldn’t want anybody at his speech who might do eye-rolling, like a certain Supreme Court Justice. :rolleyes: Hookstratten is Congress, and presumably the Speaker. If so, she’s next in line. They’d better put security on her, fast. (I suspect she would refuse to be put in a bunker, though.) ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/93 "2016-10-04T18:06:25Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > But do those two constitute a quorum? It can in the Senate. The Senate rules provide that a quorum is presumed to be present unless someone calls for a quorum call vote and proves otherwise. Even if it is blatantly obvious that nobody other than the chair is on the floor, the chair can’t rule that a quorum is not present. The lone remaining senator is obviously not going to call for a quorum call vote. This is not theoretical, [the Senate behaves this way all the time](http://www.scotusblog.com/2014/06/can-a-president-with-a-little-help-from-one-senator-of-his-party-circumvent-most-of-the-courts-limitation-on-the-recess-appointments-power/). According to the [web site of the Clerk of the House of Representatives](http://clerk.house.gov/legislative/legfaq.aspx): > [@](#): > > A quorum in the House of Representatives is when a majority of the Members are present. When there are no vacancies in the membership, a quorum is 218. When one or more seats are vacant, because of deaths or resignations, the quorum is reduced accordingly. Because of Members’ other duties, a quorum often is not present on the House floor. But any Member may insist that a quorum must participate in any vote that takes place in the House. If a Member makes a point of order that a quorum is not present, and the Speaker agrees, a series of bells ring on the House side of the Capitol and in the House office buildings to alert Members to come to the Chamber and record their presence. So a majority of one member is one. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/94 "2016-10-04T18:10:23Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Also, the President wouldn’t want anybody at his speech who might do eye-rolling, like a certain Supreme Court Justice. :rolleyes: > > Hookstratten is Congress, and presumably the Speaker. If so, she’s next in line. They’d better put security on her, fast. (I suspect she would refuse to be put in a bunker, though.) There’s no process to automatically become Speaker like there is to automatically become President in the event of the President’s death. She would have to hold a meeting of the House and vote for herself. That’s kind of silly, but it has to be done. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/95 "2016-10-04T19:44:51Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > Actually, the 25th amendment says: > > _Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress._ > > Congresswoman Kimble Hookstraten (Virginia Madsen) is only one House of Congress. They need to dig up a senator in order to confirm a VP. At the end of episode #2, they found a live body! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/96 "2016-10-04T19:51:03Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > At the end of episode #2, they found a live body! They are not really trying to say that every member of Congress was there? Something that afaik, has never happened?😕 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/97 "2016-10-04T21:42:40Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > They are not really trying to say that every member of Congress was there? Something that afaik, has never happened?😕 They said that all nine Supreme Court justices were there, and I don’t think that has ever happened. The deck is stacked. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/98 "2016-10-04T23:16:14Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > They said that all nine Supreme Court justices were there, and I don’t think that has ever happened. IIRC, it happened in Tom Clancy’s _Debt of Honour_. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/99 "2016-10-05T16:29:28Z")
I, also, would like this show to be more about rebuilding the U.S. Government than ferreting out yet another Vast Faceless Conspiracy That Threatens Everything We Hold Dear. But it looks like that’s the way the show is headed. Not sure how much longer I’ll keep watching. Clearly the Kirkmans need to hire a good live-in nanny for their little girl, and soon. They can certainly afford it now. The President shouldn’t have admitted his “You’ve mistakenly arrested two Homeland Security undercover agents” bluff. That could hurt his public standing terribly if it got out - and with that many people in the room, including the Congresswoman who’s of the same party as the Governor of Michigan, it would almost certainly leak. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > …There was an FBI seal on the wall and an FBI flag in the conference room where Kirkman was waiting during the SOTU, so I presume it was meant to be in the J. Edgar Hoover Building, the FBI’s HQ, which is on Penna. Ave. just down the street from the Capitol. Much too close, under the circumstances… I looked again at that scene. Kirkman is looking across the Potomac River, with the Lincoln Memorial in the foreground and the Washington Monument and Capitol beyond that. He’s probably in Rosslyn, Va., as the (very interesting) article linked by **aceplace57** suggested. Still too damn close, especially if a nuke was involved. > [@CarnalK](#): > > I mean the possibilty that everyone in the chain of command dying at once is going to seem insanely unlikely. So who gets chosen to stay away from the big event is going to be decided for much more mundane reasons. Like, which cabinet members project the image of the speech he’s giving. If the State of the Union contained a bunch of stuff about mortgage reform or homes in flood zones, I would imagine the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development would not have been the Designated Survivor. Ah, I understand, thanks. I can’t ever recall a closeup of the Secretary of Defense or of Homeland Security being shown applauding some proposal by the President in their field, though, so I would still have one of them - whichever I thought would be better-able to lead the country after a disaster on Capitol Hill - _always_ be the DS. > [@Quimby](#): > > …I got the impression that the election had just passed, the President won his second term but it had not stated yet so Keifer was being let go. I think that’s right, but we should find out sooner or later when (not “if,” I guarantee you) Kirkman begins thinking about running for the job himself. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556/100 "2016-10-05T16:47:23Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Ah, I understand, thanks. I can’t ever recall a closeup of the Secretary of Defense or of Homeland Security being shown applauding some proposal by the President in their field, though, so I would still have one of them - whichever I thought would be better-able to lead the country after a disaster on Capitol Hill - _always_ be the DS. Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security, was the designated survivor in 2016. Robert Gates, the Secretary of Defense, was the designated survivor for Obama’s inaugural. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan was the designated survivor in 2010. Secretary of Energy is the deuce; three times under Obama, twice for Steven Chu, once for Ernest Moniz. > [@](#): > > I think that’s right, but we should find out sooner or later when (not “if,” I guarantee you) Kirkman begins thinking about running for the job himself. I think it’s established that this is the first year of the second term. So Kirkman can’t think about running again for several years. Anybody believe the show will still be on in several years? What would the plotlines for seasons 2, 3, and 4 be like? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/designated-survivor-season-thread/766556.md?page=6)