White House requests walk-through for possible State of the Union address
The White House has asked the House sergeant-at-arms for a State of the Union walk through, according to a senior administration official, an indication that the White House is still interested in going ahead with the annual address. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has asked President Trump to postpone his speech or deliver it in writing due to the shutdown, although Mr. Trump has yet to officially respond.
It's still unclear what the president will do, with the original Jan. 29 date only a week away. A source familiar with the planning for any such address tells CBS News the White House is also considering holding a political rally outside of Washington. But a White House source also tells CBS that, while some in the White House are pushing for a rally, that remains unlikely, and the target is still a speech on Capitol Hill on the original date.
Pelosi wrote Mr. Trump last week asking him to postpone his address or deliver it in writing, given that Secret Service agents and other Department of Homeland Security employees tasked with planning and ensuring security for the major event are working without pay. DHS told CBS News last week that, despite the shutdown, it is capable of protecting the president and others present.
Pelosi has not officially canceled the address, but she still wields the power to withhold a House resolution officially inviting Mr. Trump from ever reaching the House floor. Mr. Trump, who entered the White House when Republicans controlled both chambers on Capitol Hill, is being forced to come to terms with the limits of his power with Democratic control of the House.
Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley told Fox News Tuesday morning that the president has "many ways" to deliver the State of the Union outside the House chamber.
"There are many ways he can deliver the State of the Union so I'm not going to get ahead of anything he would announce, but the fact is and as you just pointed out she has not canceled it, she asked us to postpone it and she did that without any input from national security," Gidley said. "In fact, she even said that Secret Service couldn't protect the speech, which is absolutely ridiculous. If the Secret Service can protect the president of the United States on a trip to Iraq, chances are they can protect the American president in the house of Congress."
— CBS News political correspondent Ed O'Keefe contributed to this report
