By Juliegrace Brufke-The Hill
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a letter Monday said President Trumpcould give his annual State of the Union address in the House chamber on Feb. 5 shortly after lawmakers and the White House reached an agreement to end the partial government shutdown.
When I wrote to you on January 23rd I stated that we should work together to find a mutually agreeable date when government has reopened to schedule this years State of the Union address Pelosi wrote in the letter.
Therefore I invite you to deliver your State of the Union address before a Joint Session of Congress on February 5 2019 in the House Chamber.
Trump formally accepted the invitation later in the day.
It is my great honor to accept he wrote in his response. We have a great story to tell and yet great goals to achieve!
The California Democrat previously retracted Trumps invitation to come to the Capitol Tuesday arguing the speech should not be held until after the end of the partial government shutdown.
Trump who rejected the notion security at the Capitol would be problematic in turn barred her from using military aircraft for an official visit to Afghanistan escalating tensions between the two parties during a stalemate over border wall funding.
Trump agreed to sign a three-week stopgap measure to reopen the government that didnt include funds for his border wall ending a weeks-long impasse and providing a win for Democratic negotiators.
The president previously
vowed not to support any spending legislation that didnt provide funding for
the wall. Democrats asserted they would not negotiate on border security until
the shutdown came to an end.
The continuing resolution provides House and Senate conferees time to hash out
a border security proposal. Trump has warned if they fail to put forward a plan
that provides funding for the wall the government could close again in three
weeks or he could declare a state of emergency to circumvent Congress.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during a briefing on Monday weighed in on Pelosis decision to retract Trumps invitation shortly before news broke that the State of the Union was back on.
I certainly dont think she acted in good faith on the front end considering she cited security concerns that didnt exist but were certainly hopeful that moving forward in the future she will Sanders said. The president as he always does looks forward to addressing the American people and well do that as soon as thats invitation is received."
