 |
| House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Photos of New York Post) |
VietPress USA (Jan. 17, 2019): According to New York
Post, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said
President Trump’s State of the Union address scheduled for Jan. 29 isn’t a
“sacred date” and could easily be postponed over security concerns because of
the partial government shutdown.
“It is a date we agreed
to,” Pelosi told reporters at her weekly news conference on Thursday. “It could
be a week later.”
A reporter asked what
she would do if Trump refused to postpone. Pelosi replied: “We’ll cross that
bridge when we come to it,” and adding that Trump has been “very silent, more
than 24 hours.”
She said the government shutdown, the result of a stalemate between Congress and the Trump administration over funding for Trump’s border wall, has been eroded because government security agents are working without pay. “The continuation of government is the reason for all of the security, as well as the power that is in the room,” Pelosi said. “They trained for this. They should be paid for this.”
She said the government shutdown, the result of a stalemate between Congress and the Trump administration over funding for Trump’s border wall, has been eroded because government security agents are working without pay. “The continuation of government is the reason for all of the security, as well as the power that is in the room,” Pelosi said. “They trained for this. They should be paid for this.”
But today White
House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted out Trump's letter addressed to
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to announce he had postponed Pelosi's official
trip to Belgium and Afghanistan – cutting off her access to military aircraft –
in apparent retaliation for Pelosi asking Trump to delay his State of the Union
Address until after the government shutdown ends.
Trump
wrote in a sharply-worded letter released Thursday afternoon
that "Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to
Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed," and added: "We
will reschedule this seven-day excursion when the Shutdown is over."
House
Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who had
planned to join Pelosi’s congressional delegation to Afghanistan, says Trump’s
decision to derail the trip is “completely inappropriate.”
“Whether this fifth-grade conduct is going to continue, it's hard
to see how it's rather constructive,” Schiff said. “At the end of the day, whatever
his motivation is, we'll do our oversight.”
Pelosi spokesman Drew
Hammill tweeted the first reaction from the speaker's office; calling the trip
a "weekend visit to Afghanistan," while denying that a stop in Egypt
was planned. Hammill further explained that the scheduled stop in Belgium was
for "pilot rest" while the delegation was scheduled to meet with top NATO
commanders and U.S. military leaders.
“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 and intelligence briefings from those on the front
lines”.
Read this news from ABC
News on Yahoo News at: https://news.yahoo.com/trump-cancels-pelosis-trip-due-shutdown-she-called-194010565.html
VietPress USA News
oOo
Trump postpones Pelosi's trip 'due to shutdown' after she called for State of the Union delay
Trump postpones Pelosi's trip 'due to shutdown' after she called for State of the Union delay originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
In the increasingly personal standoff between President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the president on Thursday announced he had postponed Pelosi's official trip to Belgium and Afghanistan – cutting off her access to military aircraft – in apparent retaliation for Pelosi asking Trump to delay his State of the Union Address until after the government shutdown ends.
"Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed," Trump wrote in a sharply-worded letter released Thursday afternoon, the latest move in a memorable display of Washington political theater. "We will reschedule this seven-day excursion when the Shutdown is over."
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted out Trump's letter.
Trump added that he feels “it would be better” if Pelosi was in Washington negotiating with him “and joining the Strong Border Security movement to end the shutdown.”
“Obviously, if you would like to make your journey by flying commercial, that would certainly be your prerogative,” Trump noted. “I look forward to seeing you soon and even more forward to watching our open and dangerous Southern Border finally receive the attention, funding and security it so desperately deserves.”
Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill tweeted the first reaction from the speaker's office, calling the trip a "weekend visit to Afghanistan," while denying that a stop in Egypt was planned. Hammill further explained that the scheduled stop in Belgium was for "pilot rest" while the delegation was scheduled to meet with top NATO commanders and U.S. military leaders.
“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 and intelligence briefings from those on the front lines,” Hammill said, adding that Trump traveled to Iraq, and New York Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin also led a congressional delegation to Iraq during the shutdown.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who had planned to join Pelosi’s congressional delegation to Afghanistan, says Trump’s decision to derail the trip is “completely inappropriate.”
“We’re not going to allow the President of the United States to tell the Congress it can’t fulfill its oversight responsibilities, it can’t ensure that our troops have what they need whether our government is open or closed," Schiff told reporters after huddling with Pelosi in the speaker’s office.
Asked if the tit-for-tat brings negotiators any closer to a deal to end the shutdown, Schiff told ABC's Mary Bruce that “the shutdown is completely unnecessary from beginning to end.”
“Whether this fifth-grade conduct is going to continue, it's hard to see how it's rather constructive,” Schiff said. “At the end of the day, whatever his motivation is, we'll do our oversight.”
Schiff refused to say whether Pelosi would still make the trip and blasted the president for divulging the speaker’s travel plans.
“I'm not going to comment on the speaker's travel plans,” Schiff said. “Frankly, there has been far too much said about that already. And I think the president's decision to disclose a trip that the speaker is making to a war zone is completely and utterly irresponsible in every way.”
An administration official said that the Defense Department was made aware prior to the letter being sent to Pelosi Thursday and that the policy applies to all CODELs -- or congressional delegation trips -- that may have been scheduled during the shutdown.
www.Vietpressusa.us
