House Speaker Nancy Pelosi basically disinvited President Trump from delivering the State of the Union in front of Congress with a letter on January 16 citing the government shutdown and security concerns:
Today, I wrote to @realDonaldTrump recommending that we delay the State of the Union until after government re-opens, as the @SecretService, the lead federal agency for #SOTU security, faces its 26th day without funding. https://t.co/K2oL8WGvqo pic.twitter.com/g3fIlxDbbK
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 16, 2019
The Department of Homeland Security pushed back immediately, saying there was no issue at all with the Secret Service or security for the state of the union address.
“The Department of Homeland Security and the US Secret Service are fully prepared to support and secure the State of the Union. We thank the Service for their mission focus and dedication and for all they do each day to secure our homeland.”
The Department of Homeland Security and the US Secret Service are fully prepared to support and secure the State of the Union. We thank the Service for their mission focus and dedication and for all they do each day to secure our homeland.
— Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen (@SecNielsen) January 16, 2019
Turns out though that Nancy Pelosi made her claim based on a single furloughed DHS employee, and even worse failed to even contact the Secret Service to see if her claim was true or not:
After @SpeakerPelosi sent Pres. Trump letter asking to delay SOTU, citing security concerns, Pelosi spokesperson later said a furloughed DHS employee had "expressed serious concerns that the department has insufficient staffing levels," @MajorCBS reports https://t.co/hs6BqeK09f pic.twitter.com/j9wyuWFCIC
— CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil (@CBSEveningNews) January 17, 2019
Fox News's John Roberts says a DHS official told him that no one from Pelosi's office called the Secret Service to ask if they had concerns about SOTU before she sent that letter. #StateoftheUnion #GovernmentShutdown
— Cortney O'Brien (@obrienc2) January 16, 2019
Now it looks like the President is making plans to show up and deliver his SOTU speech, as scheduled:
“SCOOP: @WhiteHouse has sent a letter to the Sergeant-At-Arms, asking to schedule a walk-through for the SOTU address. SAA canceled a walk-through last week at the request of @SpeakerPelosi . @realDonaldTrump still plans to be at the Capitol on Jan 29 for the speech”
SCOOP: @WhiteHouse has sent a letter to the Sergeant-At-Arms, asking to schedule a walk-through for the SOTU address. SAA cancelled a walk-through last week at the request of @SpeakerPelosi . @realDonaldTrump still plans to be at the Capitol on Jan 29 for the speech
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) January 22, 2019
