Scott Manley mentioned an interesting twist on this in a recent YouTube video of his: Kamala Harris, chair of the National Space Council, becoming a candidate in this year's Presidential election. The NSC is supposed to guide policy, so she wouldn't normally be involved in this kind of nitty-gritty, but there are people all up and down the hierarchy who would be well aware that this isn't how the media or her political opponents would think about it in the event of disaster.