Doing everything possible to force 72-year-old Donald Trump to reopen the government, 78-year-old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) officially cancelled the Jan. 29 State-of-the-Union Speech. Pelosi’s decision signals that she intends to play hardball with president, blaming him for the Dec. 22, 2018 government shutdown, now in its 33rd day. Battling over $5.7 billion in border barrier funding, Pelosi has turned partisan politics into a three-ring circus, using 800,000 government workers as cannon fodder. Negotiating with Trump on border security funding would have ended the government shutdown weeks ago but it now looks like Pelosi has her eyes set on the 2020 presidential election. Giving Trump any concession on border security would antagonize the Democrat Party’s progressive base, now firmly in control of the Party. Canceling the State-of-the Union denies Trump a national platform.
Welcoming Trump to the House of Representatives would give Trump a golden opportunity to make Pelosi and the Democrats look bad, especially given the dire conditions on the U.S.-Mexican border. Pelosi wants everything on her terms, setting the precondition for discussions about border security to reopening the government. Offering nothing to Trump on his signature campaign issue, denies Trump a political win in advance of the 2020 elections. Giving in on border security would make Pelosi and Democrats look weak. “When I extended an invitation to you Jan. 3rd for you to deliver the State of the Union Address, it was on the mutually agreed up date, January 29th. At that time, there was no thought that the government would still be shut down,” Pelosi said in a letter to Trump. Reneging on a prior invitation shows the political rancor that has swept Pelosi and Democrats.
Pelosi said she doesn’t want Trump holding government workers hostage over his border wall. But instead of sending a responsible delegation to negotiate with Trump, Pelosi cancels the nation’s historic State-of-the-Union Speech, something without precedent in U.S. history. Pelosi didn’t tell Trump when she invited him Jan. 3 to speak in the House chamber to a joint session of Congress, that it was contingent on him signing the Joint Continuing Budget Resolution to reopen the government. When Pelosi told Trump she wanted to postpone the State-of-the-Union Jan. 16, she cited security concerns with Homeland Security and the Secret Service. When both departments reassured the White House that there was no problem with security at the Jan. 29 speech, Pelosi switched gears again, canceling Trump’s speech today. Whatever the excuses, Pelosi has taken partisan politics to a new level.
No matter how uncivilized the political parties, never before has a House Speaker denied the commander-in-chief an invitation to address a joint session of Congress. Pelosi’s mood tries to heap maximum pressure on Trump to cave in on reopening the government without any good-faith negotiation. Partisan Democrats, like House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Il.), agree 100% with Pelosi that Trump should open up the government first before anything happens on border security or the State-of-the-Union Speech. “Again, I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for the address when government has been opened,” Pelosi stated in her letter today. Seizing control of the State-of-the-Union Speech, Pelos has usurped the rights of all 435 members of the House, but, more importantly, the all citizens of the United States.
Drawing the peoples’ business into Pelosi’s spat with Trump undermines the House of Representatives, letting one person call the shots. Pelosi may despise Trump but it’s the President’s right and Constitution’s requirement that Trump report on the State-of-the-Union. “Now Nancy Pelosi, or Nancy as I call her, she doesn’t want to hear the truth and she doesn’t want the American people to hear what’s going on,” Trump said today at a White House Roosevelt Room meeting. Trump wants to tell the American people about the need for border security and how well the economy is doing under his leadership. “I think that’s a great blotch on the great country we all love, it’s a great, great horrible mark. I don’t believe it’s ever happened before,” Trump said. Canceling the State-of-the-union Address because of a political spat crosses the line for the House Speaker requiring Supreme Court intervention.
Deciding to renege on her Jan. 3 invitation to deliver his State-of-the-Union Speech on Jan. 29, Pelosi has overstepped her authority as House Speaker, requiring Supreme Court intervention. No one told the speaker not to negotiate and end to the government shutdown with Trump. Setting the precondition for discussing border barrier security and now canceling the State-of-the-Union Speech, Pelosi has brought on a Constitutional crisis, requiring Supreme Court intervention. Whether she likes it or not, Pelosi’s one member of the House, not the supreme leader deciding what to do for all 435 members. Trump has a compelling Constitution argument for 49-year-old Solicitor General Noel Francisco. No House member—including the Speaker—can deny the peoples’ right to hear Trump report on the State-of-the-Union. Pelosi stepped out of line and needs the Supreme Court to rule.
