Two days after impeachment, Pelosi invites Trump to deliver State of Union

Dec. 20 (UPI) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi officially invited President Donald Trump to deliver the 2020 State of the Union address in a letter sent Friday, just days after the House voted to impeach him on two charges.

Pelosi's invitation to address the traditional joint session of Congress, while polite, contained several references to the U.S. Constitution, echoing some of the impassioned rhetoric about separation of powers made by Democratic House majority members before delivering their votes to impeach Trump on an abuse of power charge.

"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," the letter read. "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.'

"In the spirit of respecting our constitution, I invite you to deliver your State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress" Feb. 4 in the House chambers.

The House on Wednesday voted mainly along party lines to impeach Trump on charges he abused his power by pressuring Ukrainian government to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. A second charge contended he obstructed Congress' investigation into the matter.

The impeachment process now moves the the Senate for a trial. Pelosi has yet to deliver the articles of impeachment to the upper chamber, saying Thursday she will wait until senators agree on what form the trial will take.

Should the delays continue, it's possible the trial could be ongoing when Trump delivers the State of the Union speech.