Anonymous ID: c18d05 Jan. 23, 2019, 8:29 p.m. No.4883200   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>3306

>>4883136

 

There's pretty much nothing he can do except keep taunting Pelosi with letters

 

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The Constitution says the president has to inform Congress about the State of the Union. It doesn’t mandate where or how.

 

Article II, Section 3 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.” But beyond that, it doesn’t go into specifics.

 

Vox’s Andrew Prokop has a complete explainer on the history of the State of the Union, but basically, the gist is that for much of American history, it’s been delivered in writing. For the first 12 years of the US, Presidents George Washington and John Adams traveled to Congress to deliver an oral speech, but from Thomas Jefferson until Woodrow Wilson, the State of the Union was sent over in writing. But, as mentioned above, these days it’s typically an oral speech given at the formal invitation of the speaker of the House. This is, of course, how things are usually done, but not how they have to be done.

 

The Constitution “doesn’t even require that it be given in person or on television,” Michael Gerhardt, a constitutional scholar at the University of North Carolina’s School of Law, said.

 

Trump technically has the right to enter the House chamber, even when Congress is out of session, but he needs House permission to speak from the podium or dais, PBS’s Lisa Desjardins pointed out. But a simple majority in the House can change the rules so that Trump no longer has the right to enter. Moreover, the House speaker controls the video and audio feeds from the House chamber, and when Congress isn’t in session, there’s no C-SPAN feed.

 

“It’s not that different than if we flipped the script a little bit and said, ‘Could Nancy Pelosi just walk into the Oval Office whenever she wanted to?’ Odds are the answer to that is no,” Gerhardt said.

 

Trump theoretically could try to barge into the House to deliver the State of the Union — and Pelosi could theoretically stop him, even by having him arrested. But that’s unlikely.

 

“I seriously doubt Trump will actually try and barge into the House to give his speech. He’s trying to get Pelosi to back down and pass the concurrent resolution,” Chafetz said. “Unless the government is reopened, I doubt she will — and in that case, I strongly suspect Trump will just decide to give the speech from somewhere else.”

 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could potentially invite Trump to deliver the State of the Union from the Senate, but the Senate would have to vote on that. And the Senate chamber is much smaller than the House’s. Or Trump could speak on the steps of Congress, or somewhere else entirely.

 

On Wednesday, Trump told reporters he was “sad” about not doing the State of the Union at the Capitol but said he would “do something in the alternative.”

 

https://www.vox.com/2019/1/23/18194898/trump-state-of-union-constitution-pelosi