President Donald Trump announced Wednesday night that he will not be giving his planned State of the Union address until the partial government shutdown, now in its 34th day, has ended — but he’s offering conflicting messages about much longer it might last.
“As the Shutdown was going on, [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed,” Trump tweeted Thursday night. “She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative – I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over.”
The White House is not, the president said, looking for an alternative venue for the State of the Union, because “there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House chamber,” Trump tweeted.
As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative – I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over. I am not looking for an….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2019
….alternative venue for the SOTU Address because there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber. I look forward to giving a “great” State of the Union Address in the near future!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2019
Trump’s announcement that he will be delaying his State of the Union address comes after a prolonged back and forth between the president and Pelosi. After the speaker called on Trump to cancel the speech last week, the president retaliated by publicly revealing Pelosi’s secret travel plans, forcing her to cancel a planned trip to Afghanistan over security concerns.
But in a surprise move Wednesday evening, Trump conceded to Pelosi’s demand.
“I look forward to giving a ‘great’ State of the Union Address in the near future!” he tweeted.
According to a report by the Washington Post on Wednesday, however, the White House doesn’t actually expect the shutdown to end anytime in the “near future,” as Trump suggested.
White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has requested a list of programs that will be most impacted if the shutdown continues into March and April, the Post reported, citing people familiar with the directive.
“Mulvaney wants the list no later than Friday, these people said, and it’s the firmest evidence to date that the White House is preparing for a lengthy funding lapse that could have snowballing consequences for the economy and government services,” the outlet wrote.
Nearly 800,000 federal workers have been furloughed or forced to work without pay since the start of the shutdown on December 21, and the longer the shutdown lasts, the more expansive the damage becomes.
Last week, the D.C. Metro revealed in a letter to Maryland and Virginia senators that they are losing $400,000 per day, as a result of the shutdown, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — upon which 19 million families rely — is on the verge of running out of funding. Last Friday, domestic violence shelters funded by the Department of Justice were also cut off, and the FDA has stopped routine inspections of seafood, fruits, and vegetables.
Many furloughed workers have begun filing for unemployment or taking out loans to cover expenses, and National Parks are being vandalized, with trash and toilets are running over, as the parks are without staff. And as CBS reported Wednesday evening, many IRS workers are calling out to due “hardship,” which could delay tax returns.
The Senate it set to vote on a pair of competing bills Thursday afternoon to re-open the government, a House-passed continuing resolution that would fund portions of the government through February 8, and a GOP-led bill that would provide $5.7 billion in funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall — one of Trump’s biggest campaign promises — in exchange for certain protections for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children.
Neither bill is likely to pass, though a handful of Republicans have said they may break ranks with the party to join Democrats in voting for the House-passed CR.
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