A senior White House official has convened a meeting later this week with the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security to review security and succession protocols after a foiled shooting at the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles called the session to discuss current practices as President Donald Trump prepares to attend multiple public events ahead of the nation’s 250th Independence Day on July 4. The attempted attack at the hotel heightened attention on the presidential line of succession because several cabinet secretaries who are in the line were in attendance.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said officials had considered naming a designated survivor and had reviewed the line of succession before the dinner. “But there were several members of the Cabinet in the line of succession who did not attend for various personal reasons. So designating one survivor was not necessary as we have several members who were not there already,” she said.
Leavitt said Wiles’s meeting will include a discussion on whether the president and Vice President J.D. Vance should attend the same public events. At the WHCA dinner, Trump and Vance attended alongside House Speaker Mike Johnson, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — all figures in the formal line of succession.
Republican Rep. Michael McCaul told CNN the Secret Service should “reconsider having both the president and vice president together at something like that.” Senator John Fetterman, posting on X, said the venue “wasn’t built to accommodate an event with the line of succession for the US government,” and urged a purpose-built White House ballroom for such gatherings.
Leavitt emphasized that the Secret Service does not disclose operational details for security reasons and said changes will be considered privately. She added the president intends to attend a rescheduled WHCA dinner within the next 30 days and that whether the vice president will join will be part of the discussion.
Senator Chuck Grassley, third in line after the vice president and House speaker, did not attend the dinner. Grassley and Democratic Senator Dick Durbin were briefed by U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran on security protocols and law enforcement matters related to the event.
The U.S. Constitution and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 establish the order of succession: Vice President, Speaker of the House, President pro tempore of the Senate, then cabinet secretaries in the order of State, Treasury, Defense, Attorney General, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security.
For continuity of government, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins served as the designated survivor for President Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address on February 24–25, 2026, remaining at a secure, undisclosed location.
