The government shutdown prompted Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and President Trump to exchange insults in letters they sent about the scheduled State of the Union address that was initially scheduled for January 29. After the exchanges, the President agreed to wait until after the government shutdown had ended.
Now that it’s temporarily ended, Pelosi has stated it still isn’t going to happen as originally scheduled.
USA TODAY: Trump's State of the Union address is still not happening Tuesday despite shutdown ending, Pelosi says.https://t.co/PEvq5h4GU4
via @GoogleNews
— Austin Petersen (@AP4Liberty) January 26, 2019
My Take
There has been no response to this development from the President. On Twitter, he’s more concerned about the border wall and distancing his 2016 campaign from Roger Stone.
But that doesn’t mean he’s not crafting a response for after the weekend. There isn’t a lot of time – in less than three weeks, the government will shut down again unless a deal can be made. Assuming it doesn’t get made, Pelosi has an opportunity to let the President speak and to offer a rebuttal, but she may not take that opportunity. Instead, she may try to keep the President off the airwaves, but that’s not going to happen.
One way or another, we can expect the President to take to national television before the end of the temporary shutdown to make his case for the border wall. Pelosi would be making a mistake if she doesn’t let it happen in her House.
