President Donald Trump was expected to deliver a State of the Union address at the end of January. But given the ongoing government shutdown, Democratic leadership is asking him to postpone the speech.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sent the president a letter on Wednesday recommending that Republicans and Democrats “work together to determine another suitable date after government has re-opened.”
Today, I wrote to @realDonaldTrump recommending that we delay the State of the Union until after government re-opens, as the @SecretService, the lead federal agency for #SOTU security, faces its 26th day without funding. https://t.co/K2oL8WGvqo pic.twitter.com/g3fIlxDbbK
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 16, 2019
Since the president addresses Congress per the body’s invitation, and since Democrats control the House, we could see a situation where Trump looks to alternative methods of communication—dare we say, a campaign-style rally in West Virginia or a more formal address at D.C.’s Trump International Hotel? While Article II of the Constitution states the president shall “from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union,” nowhere does it dictate how this summary must be delivered to members.
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Thomas Jefferson was opposed to the idea of giving in-person speeches, writing in a letter preserved by the National Archives (which are currently closed due to the government shutdown), “it’s inconvenient to give a speech, it takes more time than reading and it robs legislators of the ability to think before responding.” Jefferson’s tradition of delivering written State of the Union summaries to Congress would continue until Woodrow Wilson in 1913; the last time a president submitted a written summary on the state of the nation was Jimmy Carter in 1981.
In her request to Trump, Pelosi recommended that Trump deliver written remarks to Congress as Jefferson once did. Not one to kowtow to Democrats, or communicate with the written word, Trump may double down on his signature blockbuster spectacle.
There’s nothing in the Constitution preventing the president from delivering the State of the Union via Twitter…
