Obama's final State of the Union will be 'non-traditional'
President Obama will try something new in his final State of the Union address. The White House has pledged that his televised speech in front of Congress on Jan. 12 will be "non-traditional," with a "big picture approach to some of the challenges and opportunities that we face," instead of the usual "laundry list of proposals for lawmakers to consider," The Hill reports.
Obama will begin with an admission that he likely isn't going to accomplish everything that he'd hoped to when elected. Then, after giving a push for legislation that already has bipartisan support, Obama will detail his remaining goals: implementing new climate change regulations, addressing gun control laws, finalizing the Iran nuclear deal, continuing to build a relationship with Cuba, and submitting a plan to Congress to close Guantanamo Bay.
"It goes without saying," one White House official said, "we reject the lame duck idea out of hand."
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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Why do Republicans fear swing state immigration raids in North Carolina?Today's Big Question Trump's aggressive enforcement sparks backlash worries
-
‘Every teacher is a literacy teacher’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Pull over for these one-of-a-kind gas stationsThe Week Recommends Fill ’er up next to highland cows and a giant soda bottle
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country