The highest Democrat on the Home Oversight and Authorities Reform Committee is skipping President Trump’s speech to Congress on Tuesday night time.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who represents a lot of authorities workers and federal contractors, mentioned he’ll boycott the handle “in solidarity” with these staff who’ve been laid off as a part of the federal firing blitz that’s been a number one function of Trump’s return to workplace.
However that was simply the beginning.
Connolly mentioned his protest can also be designed to indicate help for different teams of individuals — some home, some abroad — who’re in line to be harmed immediately by Trump’s coverage agenda.
The checklist consists of army veterans who’ve been fired by Elon Musk and the Division of Authorities Effectivity; the “children across the world who will starve” because of Trump’s determination to intestine the U.S. Company for Worldwide Growth; the inspectors basic throughout the businesses who’ve been laid off; the thousands and thousands of People who may lose their well being care if the Republicans’ Medicaid cuts take impact; the Ukrainians “who have watched in horror as an American president turns his back on their fight for freedom and democracy;” the law enforcement officials who had been attacked by Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, then noticed the president pardon even essentially the most violent felons.
“And in solidarity with the American people who deserve a government that serves them, not the whims of billionaires,” he concluded, “I will not attend Donald Trump’s address to Congress.”
With the announcement, Connolly seems to be the very best profile Democrat to boycott Trump’s speech, which the president is scheduled to ship to a joint session of Congress within the Home chamber on Tuesday night time.
In a letter to fellow Democrats on Monday, Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) stopped in need of asking lawmakers to not boycott the occasion. However he additionally made clear he needs to maximise Democratic attendance to display to the nation “there is a strong opposition party ready, willing and able to serve as a check and balance on the excesses of the administration.”
“The decision to attend the Joint Session is a personal one and we understand that members will come to different conclusions,” Jeffries wrote. “However, it is important to have a strong, determined and dignified Democratic presence in the chamber. The House as an institution belongs to the American people, and as their representatives we will not be run off the block or bullied.”
Connolly mentioned he’s by no means missed a State of the Union handle in his 16 years on Capitol Hill. “But we have never seen our democracy so tested,” he added.
“These are not normal times,” Connolly mentioned. “The challenges my constituents face demand greater than sitting in a chamber I revere, listening as if the individual addressing our nation shouldn’t be unleashing chaos and cruelty on their lives.
“I cannot give audience to that.”
