Pelosi Calls for Postponement of State of the Union Address Due to Shutdown

The annual State of the Union message to Congress may be the latest casualty of the partial government shutdown.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., sent a letter to President Trump on Wednesday suggesting a postponement until after the shutdown is over. The speech, which the president would deliver to a joint session of Congress and a national broadcast audience, was originally scheduled for Jan. 29.

The shutdown, now in its 26th day, affects nine government departments, including the Department of Homeland Security, of which the Secret Service is a component. Secret Service agents and other federal law enforcement officers have been working without pay since the shutdown began last month.

"The U.S. Secret Service was designated as the lead federal agency responsible for coordinating, planning, exercising, and implementing security for National Special Security Events," Pelosi wrote in her letter. "However, both the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security have not been funded for 26 days now — with critical departments hamstrung by furloughs."

Pelosi continued: "Sadly, given the security concerns and unless government re-opens this week, I suggest that we work together to determine another suitable date after government has re-opened for this address or for you to consider delivering your State of the Union address in writing to the Congress on January 29th."

The White House had not responded as of Wednesday afternoon.

Working together as Pelosi suggests has repeatedly ended in failure. The president has not backed down from his demand that any bill to fund government include $5.7 billion for a border wall, a stipulation that congressional Democrats continue to steadfastly oppose.

Trump walked out of the last meeting he had with Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and no Democrats attended a meeting between Trump and rank-and-file lawmakers at the White House on Tuesday.

Presidents traditionally deliver their State of the Union messages at the invitation of the House speaker, although as Pelosi noted in her letter, it wasn't until the Wilson administration that they actually gave the speeches in person.

Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.