Continuity of Government

The threat of nuclear war in the 1950s led the government to plan for its own survival. The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 set the line of succession after the Vice President, running from the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate through the cabinet in order of each department's creation. The government built relocation sites, including Mount Weather in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains for civilian agencies, the Raven Rock Mountain Complex near the Pennsylvania-Maryland line for the military, and a bunker for Congress beneath the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia, which remained secret until 1992.

Continuity planning covers continuity of operations, so each agency can perform essential functions, continuity of government, so each branch can operate, and the enduring constitutional government that links them. Plans are set out in presidential directives, including a 2007 directive on national continuity policy, and coordinated by FEMA. Agencies maintain alternate sites and devolution plans, and a designated survivor from the cabinet stays away from the Capitol during State of the Union addresses and inaugurations. On September 11, 2001, continuity plans were activated for the first time, and congressional leaders and some officials were moved to secure locations.

Gaps remain. If many members of Congress were killed, House seats could be filled only by special elections that would take months, so the House adopted rules for a provisional quorum, and some scholars, including a bipartisan commission in 2003, have urged a constitutional amendment allowing temporary appointments. The succession law has also been criticized for placing legislative leaders in line ahead of the cabinet. Supporters of the current system say it has proven workable, while critics say it leaves dangerous uncertainty about who would lead after a catastrophic attack.