DENIED: Trump Declines Pelosi's Request That He Delay the State of the Union

Brittany M. Hughes | January 23, 2019
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(1/23/19: Updates to this story are available here and here)

President Trump has responded to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s strongly-worded written request that he delay giving his upcoming State of the Union address before Congress until the government is reopened, telling the Democratic leader that “I will be…fulfilling my constitutional duty to deliver important information to the people and Congress of the United States regarding the State of our Union” on Capitol Hill anyway.

In keeping with tradition, Pelosi had originally extended an invitation to Trump to deliver the annual SOTU before a joint gathering of Congress on January 29.

Shortly afterward, however, she sent another letter to the president requesting that he delay the speech until the end of the partial government shutdown, which has already entered its second month, citing potential “security concerns” with regard to Secret Service protection from agents who are currently working without pay.

As an answer, the White House released a formal response to Pelosi's request Wednesday afternoon that included a pretty clear answer: "No."

Read Trump’s entire response below:

Letter

Technically, Pelosi can refuse to hold a vote to a open joint session of Congress for the State of the Union address. As of this writing, she has yet to respond to Trump's decision to move forward with his speech on Capitol Hill.

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