Overview
- President Donald Trump is scheduled to deliver the State of the Union on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 9 p.m. EST.
- More than a dozen Democrats plan to skip the speech for the People’s State of the Union rally on the National Mall at 8:30 p.m., organized by MoveOn Civic Action and MeidasTouch.
- Confirmed rally participants include Sens. Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, Chris Murphy, Tina Smith and Chris Van Hollen, as well as Reps. Pramila Jayapal, Delia Ramirez, Veronica Escobar, Greg Casar, Becca Balint, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Yassamin Ansari.
- An alternate event titled State of the Swamp at the National Press Club, hosted by Defiance.org, is expected to feature Sen. Ron Wyden and Reps. Eric Swalwell, Jason Crow, Seth Moulton, Dan Goldman and Eugene Vindman.
- House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told Democrats to attend in “silent defiance” or skip the speech and said he will be present; Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will deliver the official Democratic response and Sen. Alex Padilla will offer the Spanish-language reply.