Pelosi suggests Trump to delay State of the Union

Pelosi suggests Trump to delay State of the Union

Quinn Summerville, Reporter

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged President Trump on Wednesday to delay his State of the Union address until the partial government shutdown ends, or to instead submit the address in writing.

The president has been scheduled to deliver his periodic address to a Joint Session of Congress on Jan. 29 per request of Speaker Pelosi, but with no compromise in sight to resolve the standoff over government funding, now into its 26th day, with the impact deepening for federal workers with paychecks delayed and others, Pelosi suggested Trump put those plans on hold.

“On January 3rd, it was my privilege as Speaker to invite you to deliver the State of the Union address on January 29. The Constitution calls for the President ‘from time to time give the Congress Information of the State of the Union,” Pelosi wrote, yet noted that “since the start of modern budgeting in Fiscal Year 1977, a State of the Union address has never been delivered during a government shutdown.”

Despite Pelosi’s suggestion, the president’s invitation has not be rescinded. That power lies with her, as Speaker of the House.

The address, historically, was never only delivered in person. Thomas Jefferson started the practice of submitting the address in writing, and it was not until far later, in Woodrow Wilson’s administration, that the speech was delivered in person again.