House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s office walked back his stunning declaration Wednesday afternoon that the State of the Union would not proceed as planned.
“Mr. Hoyer had not read Speaker Pelosi’s letter and mischaracterized it,” Hoyer’s deputy communications director, Mariel Saez, told the Washington Examiner.
In light of the government shutdown, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Wednesday morning shared a letter suggesting to President Trump that he should work with her on rescheduling his Jan. 29 State of the Union address or give his prepared remarks to Congress on paper.
Ultimately, the decision rests with Pelosi, not Trump.
Hoyer, D-Md., appeared on CNN around noon and went a step further than Pelosi when he said, “the State of the Union is off.”
“What if the president — I don’t know — responds with ‘No?’ He wants to keep the date. Any chance that he could convince you otherwise?” CNN anchor Kate Bolduan asked Hoyer.
“No. Our response will be: ‘Mr. President, if you want to open up the government the Senate has seven bills they can use, and we’ll send an eighth bill tomorrow,’” Hoyer said.
In its fourth week, this partial government shutdown is the longest in U.S. history.
Trump says he will not sign a bill that does not include roughly $5.6 billion in funding for the border wall, and Democrats say they will not approve a bill that includes funding for a physical barrier at the southern border.
The White House did not return a request for comment.
