Under the Constitution, the SOTU must be given to Congress and not a rally

[Gothmog]

Last edited Tue Jan 22, 2019, 06:42 PM - Edit history (1)

The SOTU is a speech to congress and cannot be given at a rally https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-political-rally-second-state-of-the-union

Technically, though, State of the Union speeches are delivered to Congress, not crowds at political rallies.

Article II, Section 3 of the 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.”

Following the first State of the Union addresses delivered in-person to Congress by George Washington and John Adams, presidents delivered these updates in written form for more than 100 years, until 1913 when Woodrow Wilson revived the practice of delivering them in-person.

But the addresses have never been — and seemingly cannot be, constitutionally — delivered in the form of a political rally.

[Iliyah]

1. The GOP could care less about the Constitution . . .

[Hermit-The-Prog]

2. give a speech anywhere, anytime, but it's not the SOTU

He can give a speech anywhere he wants, but it won't be -the- State of the Union address, because he can't be sure Congress noticed. He can deliver that "Information of the State of the Union" in writing, as Speaker Pelosi suggested, so long as it is delivered to Congress.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. As long as Congress is given an "official" (text) copy of the "report" (speech)

that would fulfill the requirement, regardless of whether it is given orally or not.

[Amishman]

6. This, the Constitution does not specify format

He would be trampling tradition but technically following the requirements

[hueymahl]

11. Yep. This writer (not the OP) has a very poor understanding of what the Constitution requires

Clickbait.

[marylandblue]

4. All he has to do is send Congress a piece of paper, saying

"America is Great Again," and that would meet the Constitutional requirements. He can have a regular rally on the same night as the planned speech.

[Scoopster]

5. He can submit a written report to Congress.

...and then he can go have his two hours hate someplace else that isn't Congress, which is what he's gonna do.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. The Constitution requires only that the president "report" to Congress "from time to time."

There doesn't have to be a speech; the report was delivered in writing until Woodrow Wilson decided to do it by making a speech. It doesn't have to be on January 29 or any other date in particular, or even annually. "From time to time" can mean almost anything. In recent years it's become kind of a partisan rah-rah speech for presidents ("The state of the union is totally awesome because of the great work of me and my party" ), and Trump is certain to push that trend way over the top. But I would argue that we don't need a SOTU speech or any other report because we already know that the state of the union is a total dumpster fire.

[joshcryer]

8. He will send a draft of his speech to congress.

And the media will cover his rally.

Despite it being unconstitutional gibberish.

The media should boycott it even though they won't because of the ad revenue.

[Vinca]

9. As long as the Congress gets a copy of the "speech," he's probably covered.

It's all bullshit anyway. I hope the networks don't cover the thing . . . whatever it is.

[Gothmog]

13. It will still be wrong to call the speech given at a rally the SOTU

Any written speech given to Congress will satisfy the requirements of the constitution but a speech given at a rally is technically not a SOTU address

[Vinca]

15. It should be wrong to call him speaking in front of Congress the SOTU.

He has no idea what he's reading off the teleprompter or what any of it means. It's all a bad reality show and there should not be an official SOTU address. Even if it's in the script.

[Gothmog]

21. You hit on the key issue-the media should refused to cover it

The networks and media are not covering trump's rallies. Even fox has stopped covering trump's rallies and so the media should also ignore this event

[SQUEE]

10. Iit nowhere states it has to be a speech.

Let him send his letter and not give him a bully pulpit.

[Gothmog]

12. Washington gave it as a speech but Jefferson did it in writing

If trump does a rally, that rally cannot technically be called the SOTU

[redstatebluegirl]

14. They don't care about the Constitution!

[progressoid]

16. Ha! As if Trump and his cult care about the Constitution.

[WeekiWater]

17. It can be done at a rally...

As long as the SOTU is handed to congress. The rally would just be a rally.

[tritsofme]

18. This is very silly. He could deliver his remarks in writing and perform the speech anywhere he likes

[lunatica]

19. Pelosi never said he couldn't give the speech

She just disinvited him from doing it in Congress with every single branch of government in attendance. She said the security required isn’t there due to the government shutdown.

[Gothmog]

20. Congress has to adopt a joint resolution which has not happened

[Voltaire2]

22. The constitution is kind of vague about the

details. For a long time it was simply a written message from the president to Congress. There is no requirement for a speech to a joint session.

[LiberalFighter]

23. The media will need to do their job. Specify that the SOTU was presented to Congress in crayons.

And not cover the rally.

Maybe somehow get it in his head that if he has a rally it needs to be outside. In the evening would be great and would be much colder. And knowing how he loves to talk it would be extremely long.

[Gothmog]

24. The media should not cover any rally