White House has no plans to seek State of the Union postponement due to impeachment
The White House is moving ahead with plans for President Donald Trump to deliver the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 4 and does not plan to ask House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for a delay, two White House officials told McClatchy.
Officials said they do not believe the address will come in the middle of Senate impeachment proceedings, which they anticipate will wrap up at the end of next week, making a delay unnecessary.
“There’s no scheduling changes,” one official said.
At a news conference in Switzerland on Wednesday, the president indicated he does not want to postpone the annual address.
“No, I don’t see, no I don’t see,” he told a reporter who asked if he wanted to delay the speech if the Senate trial has not concluded.
Former President Bill Clinton gave his address to Congress in January 1999 while the Senate was conducting an impeachment trial on whether to remove him from office. He was acquitted the following month.
One of the White House officials said that it wasn’t clear why Pelosi invited Trump to address Congress at all, considering that in her “perfect world” he would be removed from office at the end of the impeachment process.
A Democratic leadership aide said that “there’s never been a discussion” about postponing the State of the Union address and it was “not part of the calculus” when Pelosi held onto the articles of impeachment over the winter holidays without sending them to the Senate.
“There’s many unknowns,” the aide said, referring to the outcome of procedural votes. “For that reason it’s not been part of the conversation.”
If motions to bring witnesses fail, the trial is anticipated to conclude with Trump’s acquittal before the Iowa caucuses are under way and the State of the Union is scheduled to take place.
Another White House official told McClatchy Tuesday as the trial got under way, “It will be done next week.”
Pelosi at a news conference last week said the president is welcome to ask her to postpone or send a printed copy of his remarks, like past presidents did prior to the address being broadcast. She also said it was not her preference that the Senate trial be sped up so that it intentionally concludes before the scheduled address.
“He could ask us to postpone it, if in fact, he wants to have it after all of this is resolved,” she said. “But the timing of the investigation – of the trial of the president for obstructing Congress and abuse of power should not be hastened because of a speech he wants to make to the Congress of the United States.”
This story was originally published January 22, 2020 at 10:21 AM with the headline "White House has no plans to seek State of the Union postponement due to impeachment."
