Jeffries: ‘It’s up to every individual member’ to decide whether they attend Trump’s speech
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and House leader Hakeem Jeffries have given their members discretion in whether to attend the State of the Union this evening.
Dozens of Democrats are planning to boycott, but others will attend in “silent defiance”, Jeffries said.
“It’s up to every individual member to make the decision that makes the most sense for their constituents,” Jeffries told reporters on Capitol Hill.
Jeffries will attend with his guest, a bus driver from his district who has taken on extra shifts to help afford food and healthcare, as well as relatives of the late civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, who died last week.
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Evening summary
Donald Trump is set to deliver a long – perhaps historically lengthy – State of the Union address to a deeply divided and pessimistic nation. As we await his speech, here’s everything that’s happened today so far.
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Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said a whistleblower had come forward, providing disclosures to the Senate that amounted to “irresponsible joyriding” by FBI director Kash Patel on his bureau’s jet. The whistleblower came forward after Patel was spotted celebrating with the US Men’s Olympic Hockey Team in Milan after their win over Canada in the gold medal game.
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Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, was invited to attend the State of the Union as a guest of the president. Players from the US men’s hockey team are expected to attend. Melania Trump has invited her own guests to highlight her work with the foster care system and promoting responsible AI.
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Earlier on Tuesday, the House failed to pass a bill in response to the midair collision near Washington DC in January 2025.
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Dozens of Democratic lawmakers are expected to boycott Trump’s address, while others say they are attending to show Trump, as senator Amy Klobuchar put it, that he does not “own the house”. Democratic leaders said it was up to each individual member to determine whether they should attend or not.
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Texas representative Tony Gonzales is refusing growing GOP calls to resign over allegations of an affair with his former staffer. The staffer later died by suicide.
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The office of the US Attorney for DC, Jeanine Pirro, will drop the case against six Democratic lawmakers after a grand jury in Washington DC declined to charge them, the Guardian confirmed. Trump had called the lawmakers “traitors” and “seditious” for urging US troops not to follow illegal orders.
On the sidelines of the California Democratic convention, DNC chair Ken Martin, said Americans on Tuesday will hear a “tale of two cities – a tale of two countries”.