It's been almost 24 hours since Nancy Pelosi told Donald that he wasn't cordially invited to speak to the nation from the House chamber on January 29. It's intriguing that in that time Donald hasn't tweeted about
anything. There's got to to be a reason:
Early afternoon update: Donald issued a couple of tweets this morning but so far he's been uncharacteristically silent about the Speaker of the House.
Update #2: Does the White House have the authority to dictate the Speaker's travel schedule? My guess is that the most they can do is deny her the use of a military aircraft, which is apparently what they're doing, but if postponing the trip is the right thing to do, why suggest flying commercial? This reads like a parody.
More:
Update #3, late Thursday afternoon: Speaker Pelosi's deputy chief of staff said the following:
Pelosi deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill: "The CODEL [congressional delegation] to Afghanistan included a required stop in Brussels for pilot rest. In Brussels, the delegation was scheduled to meet with top NATO commanders, U.S. military leaders and key allies—to affirm the United States’ ironclad commitment to the NATO alliance. This weekend visit to Afghanistan did not include a stop in Egypt. The purpose of the trip was to express appreciation and thanks to our men and women in uniform for their service and dedication, and to obtain critical national security & intelligence briefings from those on the front lines. The President traveled to Iraq during the Trump Shutdown as did a Republican CODEL led by Rep. Zeldin." (From Axios, read the entire article here.)
Update #4, on Friday morning: Another statement from Drew Hammill:
Update #5 on Wednesday, January 23. Regarding the State of the Union address, Donald insisted via letter that he's coming anyway:
At which point Speaker Pelosi dares him to:
According to the Washington Post, Donald really can't give a speech in the House chamber without the Speaker's permission, which would come via the concurrent resolution she mentions in her letter:
Legally speaking, Trump has no right to deliver the speech in the House chamber. The Constitution says only that a president must provide an update on the state of the country. This used to be done in writing (an option Pelosi helpfully suggested in her letter to Trump last week). Congress can provide the chamber and has for more than 100 years, but it must be done through a joint resolution. Pelosi earlier this month invited Trump to deliver the speech, but such a resolution has been neither taken up nor passed.
It’s worth noting that Pelosi hasn’t technically uninvited Trump. In her letter last week, she merely suggested a postponement (or a written version) because of security concerns related to the shutdown. Trump is essentially daring her to follow through.
But ever since Democrats won back the House in November, Pelosi has shown she won’t exactly back down from a fight. In fact, this is a fight she started. To give in now and just schedule the speech would be a pretty clear capitulation to Trump. He will have said, “I’m delivering the speech,” and she will have effectively said, “Okay, nevermind about all that stuff I said before.” With Democrats in control of the shutdown battle, it’s tough to see how she would do that, unless they reach some kind of compromise for the purpose of de-escalating the whole thing. (Read the article here.)
How does this end? Stay tuned. I'll just say for now that it appears to me that Donald has underestimated Nancy Pelosi. More:
Face it, Donald. She owns you.
Update #6, Wednesday night: That's just bad staff work. From CNN:
White House officials were caught off guard Wednesday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi formally disinviting President Donald Trump from giving his State of the Union address from the House chamber, leaving them scrambling for a response.
White House officials had believed Pelosi wanted only to postpone Trump's State of the Union for political reasons after she sent a letter to him last week asking him to delay the address until after the partial government shutdown ended. The plan from administration officials was to call her bluff by pressing forward with plans to deliver the speech, including a new letter on Wednesday that they hoped would force her hand.
Now they're left exploring alternative venues. (Read the story here.)
Donald isn't used to dealing with a woman who's smarter than he is, stronger than he is and savvier than he is. Right now she also appears to be more powerful than he is. Donald sees women as either sex partners or subordinates. The women he interacts with most are employed by him and/or dependent on him. Speaker Pelosi is neither. He's not her husband, he's not her boss and he's not her daddy. She's not afraid of him and she's not intimidated by him. She's exponentially better at her job than he is at his. (And seriously. Isn't there anyone at the White House knowledgeable enough to have told Donald that he really can't give a speech in the House chamber unless the Speaker says he can, making this morning's letter a really bad idea? Apparently not. It's mind-boggling.)
How does this end? Stay tuned.
