House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she would not introduce a resolution to hold a joint session of Congress next week for President Trump’s State of the Union speech. Rumors abounded that the administration was seeking an alternative venue, but Trump conceded on Twitter that he would wait until the government reopened to give his address. This afternoon, the Senate voted down both the Republican and Democrat proposals to reopen the government.
Trump Bets Democrats Will Cave
Washington Times, Daily Caller
The administration appears convinced that Democrats are the ones who will pay a price for the shutdown in 2020, and were showing signs of optimism after Senator Joe Manchin announced he would support both the Republican and Democrat plans to reopen the government.
Senate Votes Down Dueling Proposals
Proposals required 60 votes to move forward – the Republican proposal only garnered 50 votes while the Democrat proposal received 52.
State of the Union “unimportant,” Pelosi Has Upper Hand
At her weekly press briefing, Nancy Pelosi remarked that the State of the Union is “so unimportant…especially those who are victims of the shutdown.” Democrats are arguing that Republicans’ use of procedural votes to debate policy will ultimately fail.