The White House is considering the possibility of having Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell invite President Trump to deliver the State of the Union address.
An end-run around Pelosi
The plan to have McConnell invite Trump to deliver the State of the Union address in the Senate chamber comes after Nancy Pelosi requested that Trump delay giving the speech while the government shutdown continues. Pelosi argued – unconvincingly – that with many security personnel working without pay, there is a lot of uncertainty about whether or not the current venue, which is the House chamber in Congress, can be secured. (RELATED: Nancy Pelosi Asks Trump to Delay State of the Union.)
Right away, many smelled a trap: Pelosi isn’t actually concerned about security. Really, she’s trying to deny Trump a platform to put the blame on Democrats for keeping the government shut down.
This hunch was confirmed later by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who tweeted that the Secret Service was ready to secure Congress for the State of the Union address.
The Department of Homeland Security and the US Secret Service are fully prepared to support and secure the State of the Union. We thank the Service for their mission focus and dedication and for all they do each day to secure our homeland.
— Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen (@SecNielsen) January 16, 2019
The McConnell option
With Pelosi being blatantly political in trying to cancel the State of the Union, the White House is considering other options. As mentioned above, one option is tapping Senate Leader Mitch McConnell to invite Trump himself and have the President deliver the address in the Senate chamber. NBC reports: “Top White House officials are discussing whether the GOP-controlled Senate could invite President Trump to deliver the State of the Union address. This, in the wake of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s suggestion Wednesday that the address be postponed or relegated to being done in writing due to the partial government shutdown, now in its 27th day.”
There’s no rule requiring the President deliver the speech to the House chamber. Giving the State of the Union address has been done in the Senate chamber in the past as well. George Washington did so back when Congress was still located in New York.
Trump could easily pull it off and deny another political victory to Pelosi, who only wants to scuttle the President’s ability to speak directly to the American people about the crisis happening at the southern border.
Pelosi tried to kneecap Trump by denying him his venue to speak. But it looks like Trump’s White House isn’t falling for it.