House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said President Trump could postpone his Feb. 4 State of the Union address until after his Senate impeachment trial.
“That’s up to the president,” Pelosi, a California Democrat, told reporters Thursday.
Some lawmakers have suggested Trump should reschedule his annual address to a joint session of Congress, which is now poised to take place amid an impeachment trial. The speaker of the House invites the president and traditionally sets the date. Pelosi invited Trump back in December.
The Senate will begin a trial on Jan. 21 to determine whether to remove the president from office. Lawmakers will consider two House-passed articles of impeachment charging Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Pelosi said Trump could not show up at all and simply deliver the address on paper, which was customary in the early days of the republic.
“The president has some options,” Pelosi said. “It can come that day, and we are prepared to welcome him that day. He could send a printed copy, which was for a long time the tradition … or he could ask us to postpone it if, in fact, he wants to have it after all of this is resolved. But the timing of the investigation, of the trial of the president for obstructing Congress and abuse of power, should not be hastened because of a speech he wants to make to the Congress of the United States.”
