• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Events
  • Civic Ed
  • Campaign Finance
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • Independent Voter News
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Congress>
  3. civic ed>

Partisanship outweighs even the most basic Washington traditions

David Hawkings
January 16, 2019

Centrist House Democrats on Wednesday spurned invitations to the White House for a second consecutive day, while Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for delaying the State of the Union speech until the government is reopened.

The new House majority's twinned moves to create symbolic distance from President Donald Trump also reinforce this plain reality: The government is so riven by partisan antagonism that basic Washington behavioral norms are getting yet another downgrade.


Longstanding etiquette dictates that members of Congress decline an invitation to meet with the president – especially if any sense that deliberating policy differences is in the offing – only if gravely ill or away from Washington. And, without fail for more than a century, presidents have been welcomed at the Capitol to give an annual address.

And yet both veneers of at-least-ceremonial bipartisanship are getting new cracks. While seven Democratic members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus joined moderate Republicans at the West Wing on Wednesday, at least that many Democrats in the group stayed away. The day before, a handful of Democratic lawmakers from the moderate Blue Dog Coalition did not show up for their scheduled lunch with the president.

As the Problem Solvers prepared to meet Trump in the Situation Room, top House Democrats came close to outright rescinding their invitation to deliver his State of the Union in the House chamber Jan. 29. Pelosi, who as speaker is responsible for arranging such joint sessions of Congress, sent Trump a letter lamenting how security forces have been stretched thin by the partial government shutdown, now in its record 26th day, and asked him to send his message in writing (the practice of the 19th century) or delay the speech until after the impasse is resolved. But Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters the president should read the message as "the State of the Union is off" because "we're not going to have business as usual as long as the government is shut down."

Steering Trump away from taking a podium that looms over lawmakers, of course, also prevents him from using primetime television to admonish those who would not include $5.7 billion for hundreds of miles of border wall in the legislation to revive funding for a quarter of the government.

The House Democrats who agreed to meet with Trump issued a statement beforehand signaling they did not want to be used as presidential props for a photo op. "The possibility exists to work together and find common ground to tackle some of our country's type of problems and fix them," they said. "But that conversation can only begin in earnest once the government is reopened. We accepted the White House invitation to meet today to convey that message."

Three of the group were freshmen from Trump-friendly districts who voted against returning Pelosi to the speakership: Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and New Yorkers Anthony Brindisi and Max Rose. The others were Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Thomas Suozzi of New York, Vincente Gonzalez of Texas and Dean Phillips of Minnesota.

The Blue Dog Democrats known to have turned down the president's invitation Tuesday were Spanberger, Luis Correa of California and Floridians Stephanie Murphy and Charlie Crist.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Related Articles Around the Web
  • WATCH: Trump's full 2019 State of the Union address - YouTube ›
  • 2019 State of the Union: Read the full transcript - CNNPolitics ›
  • State of the Union | US House of Representatives: History, Art ... ›
  • State of the Union | The White House ›
civic ed

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Follow
Contributors

Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

Layla Zaidane

Two technology balancing acts

Dave Anderson

Reform in 2023: It’s time for the civil rights community to embrace independent voters

Jeremy Gruber

Congress’ fix to presidential votes lights the way for broader election reform

Kevin Johnson

Democrats and Republicans want the status quo, but we need to move Forward

Christine Todd Whitman

Reform in 2023: Building a beacon of hope in Boston

Henry Santana
Jerren Chang
latest News

Podcast: Partial truths & corporate fables

Debilyn Molineaux
David Riordan
9h

Moving beyond passing the torch: Bridging the age gap to rebuild democracy

Dairanys Grullon-Virgil
16h

Why are we afraid of conversation?

Jerren Chang
16h

Podcast: Risky business: More bank collapses ahead?

Our Staff
16h

Ask Joe: The hope for a new global unity

Joe Weston
24 March

Using bridging tools to improve workplace productivity and retention

Joan Blades
24 March
Videos

Video: Ted Lasso cast at the White House press briefing

Our Staff

Video: The hidden stories in the U.S. Census

Our Staff

Video: We asked conservatives at CPAC what woke means

Our Staff

Video: DeSantis, 18 states to push back against Biden ESG agenda

Our Staff

Video: A conversation with Tiahna Pantovich

Our Staff

Video: What would happen if Trump was a third-party candidate in 2024?

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Partial truths & corporate fables

Debilyn Molineaux
David Riordan
9h

Podcast: Risky business: More bank collapses ahead?

Our Staff
16h

Podcast: Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other: Barbara McQuade

Our Staff
24 March

Podcast: Redefining conservatism for millennials

Our Staff
23 March
Recommended
Podcast: Partial truths & corporate fables

Podcast: Partial truths & corporate fables

Diversity Inclusion and Belonging
Moving beyond passing the torch: Bridging the age gap to rebuild democracy

Moving beyond passing the torch: Bridging the age gap to rebuild democracy

Civic Ed
Why are we afraid of conversation?

Why are we afraid of conversation?

Big Picture
Podcast: Risky business: More bank collapses ahead?

Podcast: Risky business: More bank collapses ahead?

Podcasts
Video: Ted Lasso cast at the White House press briefing

Video: Ted Lasso cast at the White House press briefing

Comedy
Ask Joe: The hope for a new global unity

Ask Joe: The hope for a new global unity

Pop Culture