Overview
- Progressive groups MoveOn Civic Action and MeidasTouch will stage a “People’s State of the Union” on the National Mall at 8:30 p.m. ET, hosted by Joy Reid and Katie Phang.
- Organizers list Sens. Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, Chris Murphy, Tina Smith, and Chris Van Hollen, along with Reps. Yassamin Ansari, Becca Balint, Greg Casar, Veronica Escobar, Pramila Jayapal, Delia Ramirez, and Bonnie Watson Coleman as planned attendees.
- House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says he intends to attend the address and has urged colleagues to either sit in quiet defiance or skip it rather than disrupt.
- The White House criticized the boycott through spokeswoman Abigail Jackson, saying Democrats are refusing to honor Americans who benefited from Republican policies.
- Trump’s address is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET on major networks, and both the speech and the counter‑event are set against an unresolved DHS funding lapse tied to immigration policy.