Pelosi Invites Trump To Deliver State of the Union, 'In the Spirit of Respecting Our Constitution'
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited President Donald Trump to deliver the State of the Union address in a bipartisan gesture to end a week filled with partisan rancor, including the Democratic-led House voting to impeach the commander in chief.
“In their great wisdom, our Founders crafted a Constitution based on a system of separation of powers: three co-equal branches acting as checks on each other. To ensure that balance of powers, the Constitution calls for the president to ‘from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union,'” Pelosi wrote in a letter to Trump on Friday.
She added, “In the spirit of respecting our Constitution, I invite you to deliver your State of the Union address before a Joint Session of Congress on Tuesday, February 4, 2020 in the Chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives.”
JUST IN: Speaker Pelosi invites President Trump to deliver State of the Union address on Feb. 4, 2020. pic.twitter.com/L1B0YfTMw5
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 20, 2019
Pelosi’s letter comes two days after the House of Representative, without the backing of a single Republican, voted to impeach Trump for “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress.”
The move marked the first time in U.S. history no underlying crime was alleged in the articles of impeachment.
In another unprecedented move, Pelosi elected not to transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial, saying Wednesday night, “So far we haven’t seen anything that looks fair to us.”
“But we’ll see what happens over there,” she said.
Speaking from the Senate floor on Thursday morning, McConnell addressed the possible non-transmission of the articles, saying, “Looks like the prosecutors are getting cold feet in front of the entire country and second-guessing whether they even want to go to trial.”
“They said impeachment was so urgent that it could not even wait for due process but now they’re content to sit on their hands. This is really comical,” he added.
In January, Pelosi sent a letter to Trump calling on him to delay his State of the Union Address due to the partial government shutdown occurring at the time over border wall funding.
The speaker cited security concerns in hosting the address at the Capitol.
Trump responded by informing Pelosi the day she was to lead a congressional delegation on a seven-day excursion to Europe and the Middle East that he was pulling her military transportation, writing that “postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate” during a government shutdown.
President @realDonaldTrump’s letter to @SpeakerPelosi concerning her upcoming travel pic.twitter.com/TtBCvwp080
— Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) January 17, 2019
No such funding impasse occurred this year.
I will be signing our 738 Billion Dollar Defense Spending Bill today. It will include 12 weeks Paid Parental Leave, gives our troops a raise, importantly creates the SPACE FORCE, SOUTHERN BORDER WALL FUNDING, repeals “Cadillac Tax” on Health Plans, raises smoking age to 21! BIG!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2019
Trump proudly tweeted on Friday, “I will be signing our 738 Billion Dollar Defense Spending Bill today. It will include 12 weeks Paid Parental Leave, gives our troops a raise, importantly creates the SPACE FORCE, SOUTHERN BORDER WALL FUNDING, repeals ‘Cadillac Tax’ on Health Plans, raises smoking age to 21! BIG!”
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