Every president has delivered a State of the Union message to Congress, but no State of the Union has provoked a partisan fight like the one President Trump was slated to deliver on Jan. 29.
On Jan. 16, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called on Trump to postpone the scheduled address because of the ongoing partial government shutdown, now entering its second month.
The next day, President Trump revoked Pelosi’s use of military aircraft to lead a congressional delegation abroad, telling her in a written message as she prepared to depart: “During this period, it would be better if you were in Washington negotiating with me and joining the Strong Border Security movement to end the shutdown.”
“Obviously, if you would like to make your journey flying commercial, that would certainly be your prerogative,” he added.
These events ignited the already-smoldering partisan anger between Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill into a conflagration, threatening to make it even more difficult to find a bipartisan agreement that would end the month-long spending impasse over funding for a border wall, which has hobbled federal services and left 800,000 workers without pay.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who has tried to negotiate a compromise between Trump and the Democrats, called the latest tit-for-tat between Pelosi and the president “sophomoric” and urged the two to cut it out.
Other lawmakers are simply taking sides.
Democrats cheered when Pelosi announced the move to disinvite Trump. She read the letter to a closed-door meeting with her caucus on Jan. 16.
“There was a lot of applause,” Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., told the Washington Examiner. “It’s somewhat audacious to deliver a State of the Union address while the government is shutdown. I think there is a fair amount of arrogance to think that’s okay.”
Republicans angrily condemned the speaker’s move when they learned about it, noting that the GOP never revoked an invitation to former Presidents Barack Obama or Bill Clinton when they ran the majority.
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., accused Pelosi of “playing pure politics” and viewed the letter as a revocation of the invitation she sent him earlier this month.
“I think it’s unbecoming of the office to disinvite the president,” McCarthy said of Pelosi, who as speaker is the only one who can invite the president to address the House chamber, where the State of the Union is held in order accommodate both House and Senate lawmakers as well as diplomats, Cabinet members, and Supreme Court justices. “The American people have the right to be able to hear the president, and the president has a right to deliver a State of the Union,” McCarthy said.
Lawmakers left town Jan. 17 with no deal to reopen the government and, now, with no date for the president to deliver his annual address to Congress.
Some lawmakers are calling for the Senate GOP majority to invite Trump to deliver his address in the upper chamber.
“If I were the president, I would hold it,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said. “He can come to the Senate. I’ll attend.”
Pelosi told the Washington Examiner in an interview that she’s not canceling the speech outright. She said Trump will “of course” be invited to attend after the shutdown fight is resolved and the partial government closure ends.
The fight is entering a second month and the president is not willing to give up on wall funding, nor are Democrats willing to let him have it.
Kennedy had some advice for Pelosi and Trump.
“I think they need to stop poking each other and try to come to the table to work this out.”
