Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday dismissed as “unimportant” her decision to vacation in Hawaii during the partial government shutdown.
“I observed the Christmas holiday for a few days and in fact cut in half the time I would have had with my family,” Pelosi told NBC in an interview that aired Thursday morning. “It’s not important, it’s totally unimportant.”
Pelosi will again become speaker of the House when the new Congress begins Thursday amid a partial government shutdown that is entering its 13th day.
Before the shutdown, the California Democrat said the impasse would give President Trump more time to golf.
Immediately following the shutdown, however, Trump did not join first lady Melania Trump and his son Barron in Mar-a-Lago for their usual Christmas vacation. Instead, Trump chose to stay in Washington, D.C., and criticized Democrats for leaving town.
Pelosi said that even though Democrats may not have been in D.C., they were on notice that they may have to fly back to the Capitol to pass a bill.
“The fact is that we all stood ready and told our members that we would have 24 hours notice for all be where we need to be. And the president may not know this, but Hawaii is part of the United State of America, maybe he doesn’t realize that. I don’t know if the president observes the religious holiday of Christmas, do you?” Pelosi said.
