January 16, 2019

Pelosi Calls on Trump to Postpone State of the Union Address Until After Shutdown

If there’s one thing the president craves, it’s a national television audience.

Tom Williams/ZUMA

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday called on President Donald Trump to postpone his State of the Union address, originally scheduled for January 29, until after the government has reopened, or submit his remarks in writing.

“Sadly, given the security concerns and unless government re-opens this week, I suggest that we work together to determine another suitable date after 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.

The move effectively cancels Trump’s address.

The letter comes more than three weeks into a partial government shutdown that has left nearly 800,000 federal workers furloughed or working without pay, as Trump continues to demand $5 billion to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. This past Friday marked the first time federal workers missed their scheduled paychecks, an increasingly precarious situation that has left many searching for part-time jobs in order to pay bills on time. Others have begun digging into life savings.

Later on Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen appeared to push back on Pelosi’s recommendation, tweeting that the Department of Homeland Security and Secret Service were “fully prepared” to deal with security measures for the State of the Union.

You can read Pelosi’s letter in full below:

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

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