WASHINGTON – Seven of the top eight people in the U.S. presidential line of succession were in the same room as President Donald Trump when a gunman allegedly opened fire outside the White House Correspondents' Association dinner on April 25.
The one exception? A 92-year-old senator who was recovering from surgery.
“I’m gr8ful for the excellent care from local health care providers Be back to capitol ASAP,” Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley wrote in an April 20 post on X.
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A spokeswoman for the senator confirmed that on the day of the shooting, Grassley was in New Hartford, Iowa.
The annual correspondents’ dinner turned chaotic when a gunman fired and tried to run past a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton. The suspect, Cole Allen of Torrance, California, was apprehended by security officials and indicted Monday on charges of attempting to assassinate the president.
Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Cabinet members were immediately evacuated from the cavernous ballroom in the basement of the hotel, packed with more than 2,500 journalists, politicians and celebrities.
Grassley, who as Senate president pro tempore is third in line behind Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana for the presidency, had undergone surgery to remove gallstones a week before the event. The position of president pro tempore goes to the majority-party senator with the longest continuous service.
The evacuation was intended to protect the line of succession, which follows this order:
1. Vice president
2. Speaker of the House
3. Senate president pro tempore
4. Secretary of State
5. Treasury Secretary
6. War Secretary
7. Attorney General
8. Interior Secretary
9. Agriculture Secretary
10. Commerce Secretary
11. Labor Secretary
12. Health and Human Services Secretary
13. Housing and Urban Development Secretary
14. Transportation Secretary
15. Energy Secretary
16. Education Secretary
17. Veterans Affairs Secretary
18. Homeland Security Secretary
Following Grassley, the next five members of the Cabinet who are part of the line of succession were all at the event: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
During major events such as the State of the Union address, a member of the president’s Cabinet who is in the line of succession is kept at an obscure location in case an unforeseen event kills the president, vice president and other top leaders. The “designated survivor” would then serve as acting president.
For the White House Correspondents’ Associate dinner over the weekend, a designated survivor was not chosen, said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt during a press briefing April 27.
But she said there had been discussions about that.
"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 had several members who were not there already," Leavitt said.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was not at the gala, his office confirmed to USA TODAY. It was not clear if Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins attended.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Top presidential line of succession leaders at DC dinner during attack
