Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has effectively blocked Donald Trump from delivering the State of the Union address, scheduled for 29 January, over the ongoing government shutdown.
Pelosi wrote to Trump, informing him that the usual invitation to address a joint sitting of Congress had been rescinded until the shutdown has been overturned.
“I am writing to inform you that the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the President’s State of the Union address in the House Chamber until government has opened,” Pelosi wrote.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address when government has been opened.”
CNN reports that relations between the Democratic House and the president have hit “a new low”, adding that “none of this is even marginally normal”.
If Trump is unable to deliver his State of the Union address in person to Congress, it will be the first time a sitting US president has failed to do so since George Washington first gave his speech at Federal Hall in New York on 8 January 1790.
Trump reacted to the news by declaring that the Democrats had become “radicalised”, The Guardian says.
“They don’t want to see crime stopped, which we could very easily do on the southern border,” Trump said, before saying the government shutdown “will go on for a while”.
-
Trump vs. states: Who gets to regulate AI?Feature Trump launched a task force to challenge state laws on artificial intelligence, but regulation of the technology is under unclear jurisdiction
-
Decking the hallsFeature Americans’ love of holiday decorations has turned Christmas from a humble affair to a sparkly spectacle.
-
Whiskey tariffs cause major problems for American distillersIn the Spotlight Jim Beam is the latest brand to feel the pain
-
Hong Kong court convicts democracy advocate LaiSpeed Read Former Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was convicted in a landmark national security trial
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Pakistan: Trump’s ‘favourite field marshal’ takes chargeIn the Spotlight Asim Munir’s control over all three branches of Pakistan’s military gives him ‘sweeping powers’ – and almost unlimited freedom to use them
-
Is Europe finally taking the war to Russia?Today's Big Question As Moscow’s drone buzzes and cyberattacks increase, European leaders are taking a more openly aggressive stance
-
Pushing for peace: is Trump appeasing Moscow?In Depth European leaders succeeded in bringing themselves in from the cold and softening Moscow’s terms, but Kyiv still faces an unenviable choice
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
South Africa wraps up G20 summit boycotted by USSpeed Read Trump has been sparring with South Africa in recent months
