Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaks during a news conference in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 4. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
License Photo
Jan. 16 (UPI) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged President Donald Trump in a letter Wednesday to delay his State of the Union address this month until after the federal shutdown ends.
Pelosi reminded Trump in the letter that workers in the U.S. Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security, which have both been affected by the shutdown, have not been paid. The interruption creates security concerns for the president's annual address to a joint session of Congress on Jan. 29, she said.
"Sadly, given the security concerns and unless government re-opens this week, I suggest that we work together to determine another suitable date after the government has re-opened for this address or for you to consider delivering your State of the Union address in writing to the Congress on January 29th," Pelosi wrote in the letter.
Pelosi said the State of the Union has never been delivered during any government shutdown. It was once delivered, in writing, to Congress by President Woodrow Wilson. President Ronald Reagan delayed his address for a week in 1986 after the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded.
The partial government shutdown, now the longest in U.S. history, has affected nine federal departments while Trump demands more than $5 billion for his wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump said he will keep the government closed until the wall money is included in a bill to fund the government, which has been shuttered since Dec. 22.
Neither house of Congress has included wall funding in their bills to reopen the government. In the meantime, about 800,000 federal employees are out of work or working without pay. A group of centrist Democrats turned down a luncheon meeting with Trump Tuesday to discuss the impasse.
Trump didn't immediately respond to Pelosi's request, but he again tweeted about the need for border security.
"There are now 77 major or significant Walls built around the world, with 45 countries planning or building Walls. Over 800 miles of Walls have been built in Europe since only 2015. They have all been recognized as close to 100% successful. Stop the crime at our Southern Border!" he wrote.
"It is becoming more and more obvious that the Radical Democrats are a Party of open borders and crime. They want nothing to do with the major Humanitarian Crisis on our Southern Border. #2020!"
