Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley are skipping the State of the Union
The State of the Union will have a few empty seats Tuesday night.
Some of the House's highest profile representatives won't be listening to President Trump's annual address on Tuesday in the wake of his impeachment and ongoing Senate trial. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) all announced Tuesday they wouldn't be showing up.
"After much deliberation," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted she would be skipping the State of the Union because she didn't want to "normalize Trump's lawless conduct and subversion of the Constitution." Pressley borrowed a common Republican adjective to say she wouldn't be attending the "sham SOTU." And Waters, one of the House committee leaders who led the investigation into Trump, gave a similarly strong statement.
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.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), another member of the progressive "Squad" of freshman representatives, tweeted to confirm she would be showing up. "My presence tonight is resistance," she clarified. Omar, Ocasio-Cortez, and the dozens of other women Democrats of the House all attended the State of the Union last year dressed in a striking suffragette white.
A few other congressmembers, including Reps. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), have stayed home from every State of the Union address Trump has given in his presidency. And if they have their way, this will be the last time they have to skip out.
-
Political cartoons for February 16Cartoons Monday’s political cartoons include President's Day, a valentine from the Epstein files, and more
-
Regent Hong Kong: a tranquil haven with a prime waterfront spotThe Week Recommends The trendy hotel recently underwent an extensive two-year revamp
-
The problem with diagnosing profound autismThe Explainer Experts are reconsidering the idea of autism as a spectrum, which could impact diagnoses and policy making for the condition
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
-
Bondi, Democrats clash over Epstein in hearingSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi ignored survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and demanded that Democrats apologize to Trump
-
El Paso airspace closure tied to FAA-Pentagon standoffSpeed Read The closure in the Texas border city stemmed from disagreements between the Federal Aviation Administration and Pentagon officials over drone-related tests
-
Judge blocks Trump suit for Michigan voter rollsSpeed Read A Trump-appointed federal judge rejected the administration’s demand for voters’ personal data
-
US to send 200 troops to Nigeria to train armySpeed Read Trump has accused the West African government of failing to protect Christians from terrorist attacks
-
Grand jury rejects charging 6 Democrats for ‘orders’ videoSpeed Read The jury refused to indict Democratic lawmakers for a video in which they urged military members to resist illegal orders
