Does Pelosi actually have the power to postpone the State of the Union?

[Raven]

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. I will wait for the answer also, you know what power she does have?

She can tell the entire D party NOT to go and they would almost all if not all NOT GO!

[gopiscrap]

2. I don't think so,

but she can stop him from presenting it in the House of Representatives

[zipplewrath]

4. This

She controls the House. He's required by the constitution to submit a report. He can give a speech anywhere he can get in.

[euphorb]

32. Constitutionally, it doesn't even have to be a speech.

Prior to Woodrow Wilson (1913), presidents simply delivered a written report to Congress.

[uponit7771]

44. +1

[WeekiWater]

3. No. NT

[dlk]

5. There's Direct Power and Indirect Power...

[sarisataka]

6. No

The President

“shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” Article II, Section 3, Clause 1.

Prior to Woodrow Wilson it was very rare for a President to deliver the state of the union in person. A written message fulfills the Constitutional requirement.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

7. So, it's actually yes. He can write his message; she doesn't have to let him speak.

[sarisataka]

19. He doesn't have to deliver it

In the House. He could tweet it and just have Pence deliver a transcript to Congress

[Cuthbert Allgood]

24. Yes. That is true. I'm just speaking to her power in the House.

I don't really think she would stop him from doing it, but maybe. I'm sure they are running polls on it to gauge the optics on that. Of course we know 31% of the population would lose their shit about it, but they have demonstrated they are beyond reaching.

[sarisataka]

33. Yes she can deny

Him that platform and if she did the shitstorm would be epic.
Kinda makes me hope she tells him to go to hell

[dalton99a]

11. +1. It's his job to submit a report. It's her right to tell him he can't make a speech in the House

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. She can't stop him from making a speech, but she doesn't have to invite him

to do it before Congress. The SOTU is by invitation from the Speaker.

[Claritie Pixie]

9. As Speaker of the House, she INVITES the President to address Congress.

It is within her authority to postpone or ask for SOTU in written form. It is not up to Trump or the Senate.

[Hekate]

10. He's required by the Constitution to submit a report in writing. Speaking before the House...

...was not always done -- and depends on an invite from (wait for it) the Speaker of the House. She just disinvited him.

He can talk to cameras anywhere, but he craves a live audience like a junkie craves the next hit.

[dalton99a]

16. Hopefully he won't be able to spout this bullshit:

Link to tweet

[hack89]

12. The President cannot enter the House without her permission

the Constitution does not say where the SOTU has to be given. From Jefferson until Woodrow Wilson, there was not a speech - the president sent a letter.

[herding cats]

13. No, but as stated it doesn't have to be held in Congress and it needn't be verbal.

He can hold his own speech from the Oval Office if he likes, but there's no obligation for Pelosi permit Congress to host him.

So, essentially she was within her rights today to disinvite him.

[underpants]

31. He could just send this

[herding cats]

35. 🤣🤣

That cracked me up!

[lastlib]

14. The president is constitutionally required to give a SOTU report to Congress,

but the Constitution doesn't specify how it is delivered or received. Use of the House chamber for a presidential address is probably controlled by the Speaker, so pres is pretty much at Nancy's mercy there.

[dalton99a]

25. The Speaker controls the House Chamber

[LongtimeAZDem]

15. I believe that the President has to be invited into the House to address a joint session

absent that invitation, he has no authority to do so.

[peggysue2]

17. I think it's the venue . .

Pelosi controls power over. Trumpski must have her approval to enter/use the Chamber to deliver the speech. I heard someone say, Dems were trying to give Trump and his acolytes a heads up on what this shutdown means.

[democratisphere]

18. Who the hell wants to LISTEN to drumpf lie about the State of the Union

when we already know the State of the Union is absolute SH'T! The USA is very insecure since drumpf took office!

[Midnightwalk]

20. Constitutionally a speech to the house isn't required

From Wikipedia

Article II, Section 3, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution states that the president "shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient."[

Historically most reports were not in person

[link:https://history.house.gov/Institution/SOTU/State-of-the-Union/|]

ncluding President Donald J. Trump’s 2018 address, there have been a total of 95 in-person Annual Messages/State of the Union Addresses. Since President Woodrow Wilson’s 1913 address, there have been a total of 83 in-person addresses.

From the same site there are a couple of other required reports, but those don’t appear to be required to be in person

During the 20th century, Congress required more-specialized reports on these two aspects, separate from the Annual Message.

Budget Message, required by the National Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 (42 Stat. 20) to be delivered to Congress no more than two weeks after Congress convenes in January.
Economic Report, required by the Employment Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 23), with a flexible delivery date.

[EffieBlack]

21. She can't actually postpone it - the president can deliver it whenever he wishes

But she has full control over whether and when he can deliver it in person at HER House ...

[LongtimeAZDem]

28. Exactly /nt

[honest.abe]

22. The Moron is probably trying to come up with something that will one-up Pelosi.

Like maybe giving the SOTU at a sports stadium or at the National Mall like an inauguration event.

I doubt anything like that is doable but I bet that is what is in his mind right now.

[Moostache]

26. She should dare him...

Just show Trump thess images of Obama's 2008 acceptance of the nomination in Denver's Mile High Stadium:



Then dare him to do better in FedEx stadium...LOL.

[honest.abe]

30. That was a wonderful evening.

God I miss him.

[Moostache]

38. I miss the Obamas every single day too!

This has been a nightmare since November of 2016 and it just keeps getting worse...

[maxsolomon]

27. He was planning on extending the #Trumpshutdown till then to build up the ratings

Its all a reality-TV show to him. The SOTU was going to be a full-on White-Nationalist Campaign Speech.

"Utter Chaos", starring President Bullshit

[LanternWaste]

34. I think T is counting on giving the SOTU address to push his Little Wall Crisis.

I think T was counting on giving the SOTU address to push his Little Wall Crisis in front of a national audience watched by a cross of demographics he wouldn't otherwise get.

I also think no is arguing anything, let alone a simple rook for bishop move, is too good to be true.

[Gothmog]

29. Pelosi can block the SOTU from being given to a joint session of congress

trump can give a SOTU from the Oval Office or some other location such a Mar-a-Lago

[EffieBlack]

39. And we've seen how well he does with Oval Office addresses ...

Madam Speaker put him in a box. Either he straightens up and flies right, or he doesn't get the huge national spotlight that she can provide a president.

[avebury]

36. I don't know. She does have the power to prevent him from presenting it

in the House. She is smart to tie it to the Trump government closure. We all know that he would turn it into to a rant against the Democrats. While he is required to submit a report on the State of the Union, an argument could be made that the format of the report is not set in concrete. Let him turn it in as a written report.

[Gothmog]

37. Yes, Speaker Pelosi has that power

Link to tweet

[shanny]

40. boy it will really chap his ass if he can't give a big speech in front of Congress.

They'd be his captive audience and he would LOVE it if they had to sit there while he blamed them.

[Gothmog]

41. Pelosi: Trump Can Deliver SOTU 'From The Oval Office If He Wants'

trump's only oval office address was a bust. trump was flat. trump draws energy from crowds and audience. trump will not want to do an oval office address

Link to tweet

[onenote]

42. It's a bold move, but not without risk

Pelosi's stated grounds for suggesting that the delivery of the SOTU before a joint session in the House chamber be delayed are "security concerns". I guarantee you that Trump and his minions are working on getting DHS and the Secret Service to publicly state that they are confident that they can handle any security concerns Pelosi might have.

It will be tough for her to counter that message.

[haele]

46. Secret Service and DHS are not being paid right now. That's a security concern in itself.

She's perfectly within her rights to demand that the regular sworn federal security personnel they claim they can provide is not just being pulled out of furlough to be paid to do just this one event - that they've not be exposed to the duress of missing a paycheck and might be harboring resentment against either the Administration or "the Demz" that the administration has been demonizing since they took the house.

And she is also within her rights to set down the ground rules that no contractors, military personnel, or other persons who are not federal security employees trained as event security be used as a stop-gap for the SS and DHS employees who are working without pay. If he wants to waste government money hiring a group of Erik Princes mercenary mob thugs to provide security, he might as well get out to Riverside CA and hire a chapter of the Hell's Angels - that would be cheaper.

Claiming to be "confident" that the Administration and DHS can handle any "security concerns" Pelosi might have is not reassuring in the least.

Personally, if I were her, I'd want to ensure that the extra security component required to "protect the president" are normal, sworn security personnel who get a regular government paycheck and are dedicated to a functioning government as their employer, rather than personality, or religion, or political/issue based affiliation outside the Constitution.

Haele

[onenote]

49. This isn't about facts it's about perception

And if DHS and the Secret Service say there are no security concerns with holding the SOTU as planned, Pelosi claiming otherwise will open her up to being ridiculed as asserting that she is a better judge of security matters than DHS and the Secret Service. Sure it sucks if that happens, but it also happens to be the reality.

[allgood33]

43. Nancy is the Speaker of the House. ANYONE seeking to speak on the House floor outside of

elected Reps have to have her approval to speak on the floor.

[Jose Garcia]

45. Only if Trump wants to give the speech in the House Chamber

[malaise]

47. Yes she does

She can cancel, postpone, whatever.

[MineralMan]

48. Yes. The Speaker INVITES the President to give the speech.

Note that the Sergeant at Arms introduces the President, beginning with these words, "Madam Speaker!" Well, it will be "Madam" this time, anyhow. That's because the SOTU is given in the House Chambers.