If President Trump thought House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would blink, he was sadly mistaken.
Pelosi announced tonight she will not allow Trump to deliver the State of the Union in the House chamber next week, writing to him that he can give the annual speech at the Capitol once the government shutdown is over.
Pelosi said when she extended Trump the invitation earlier this month on Jan. 3, “there was no thought that the government would still be shut down.”
The partial shutdown, triggered by a partisan standoff over Trump’s demand for a border wall, is now on its 33rd day.
“I am writing to inform you that the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the President’s State of the Union address in the House Chamber until government has opened,” Pelosi wrote to Trump. “Again, I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address when government has been opened.”
Pelosi’s letter came just a few hours after Trump had informed her that he planned to show up at the Capitol on Jan. 29 to deliver his annual speech to Congress.
The sparring between the two leaders reflects the growing acrimony as the partial federal government is now the longest in history, with 800,000 federal workers forced to go without pay and states scrambling to mitigate the impact on the poorest Americans.
The House and Senate must pass a concurrent resolution for a joint session of Congress to hear the president.
Asked about Pelosi’s letter at a White House event Wednesday afternoon, Trump responded, “I’m not surprised.”
Earlier today, Trump said in a letter to Pelosi that he is pressing ahead with plans to deliver his address at the Capitol, dismissing the speaker’s concerns about security due to the shutdown.
Trump could still deliver an Oval Office address, or take his speech elsewhere.
Pelosi had sent a letter to Trump this month inviting him to deliver his annual address at the Capitol.
But with Democrats and the White House at an impasse over Trump’s long-promised U.S.-Mexico border wall, Pelosi wrote to Trump again last week urging him to delay the speech, or deliver it in writing.
Trump responded by denying Pelosi the use of a military plane for a trip to Afghanistan.
Pelosi accused Trump of then publicizing her and other lawmakers’ plans to make the journey on a commercial flight, forcing them to abandon the trip.
The House has passed a number of bills that would reopen the government without border wall funding, and Democrats plan another vote Thursday.
The Republican-controlled Senate is planning votes Thursday as well on two competing proposals, neither of which is expected to garner the 60 votes necessary for passage.