Come on, members of Congress, it’s 9:09 Eastern by my watch, and Trump hasn’t even started yet. You don’t really need another selfie with the president.
There was no Supreme Court decision on executive firing power or war in Iran today, so I expect tariffs to still be at the front of Trump’s mind. After his IEEPA tariff regime was struck down on Friday, the president implemented a new, universal tariff under another very dubious legal authority: Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act. There has been some confusion about the rate. Customs and Border Patrol sent importers a notice that the tariff was set at 10 percent, where Trump initially announced it would be. But Trump later wrote on social media that he would raise the rate to 15 percent. As of now, the 10 percent duty is still in effect.
Four justices in attendance tonight: Chief Justice John Roberts, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. That seems like a really generous turnout, considering the president’s tantrum Friday, and the possibility of a continuation this evening.
This is probably the largest mass-refusal of Democrats to attend Congress since Southern Democrats – then the majority of the party in Congress – left en masse as their states seceded in 1860-61, handing control of the Senate and a huge House majority to Republicans.
This is unlikely to end as badly for the Democrats, but Republicans in that era did a lot with a brief stranglehold on Capitol Hill, enacting long-blocked legislative programs like the Homestead Act and the transcontinental railroad and confirming the first-ever Republican Supreme Court justices. There are costs to not showing up.
The highest-ranking House Democrat boycotting tonight’s SOTU address is Minority Whip Katherine Clark.
Trump’s political team knows that the 2026 midterms will center around the economy, so it will be interesting to watch how he talks about tariffs and whether he acknowledges many voters still feel that prices are too high (I’m sure his speechwriters added some lines about putting the blame on inheriting a mess from Biden, even though we’re more than a year into Trump’s second term). Don’t be surprised if he talks about housing policy, banning institutional investors from buying up single-family homes, and AI data centers. (I’m inside the chamber for tonight’s address, but it will be funny to see if the cameras pan to Elizabeth Warren’s reaction if Trump talks about capping credit card interest rates.)
Audrey, I’m sure the Congressional Democrats in attendance will find various ways to register their disapproval — sitting stone faced, booing, jeering, and we’ll see what else. But if you ask me, breaking decorum by vocally objecting to the president during a joint address peaked with South Carolina GOP congressman Joe Wilson back in 2009. He broke new ground by shouting, “You lie!” Everyone else since then has just been imitating him.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters in the lead-up to tonight’s address that he’s urging members of his caucus to protest the speech in “silent defiance.” While dozens of progressives are boycotting tonight’s address. don’t be surprised if there are some interruptions like there were last year.
The State of the Union is coming! President Trump warned the nation in advance that it would go long “because we have a lot to talk about,” so order a pizza, pull a six pack out of the fridge, and hope you haven’t polished both of them off by the time this thing finally wraps. Trump will almost certainly rant about the Supreme Court’s ruling in Learning Resources, but the real question is whether he will address the situation in Iran. Either way, settle in for a few hours – probably on the order of the average MCU film – and we will attempt to inform and entertain you.
(Don’t worry, everybody will have forgotten about all of this by Friday.)
Lots and lots of empty seats on the Democratic side of the House chamber this evening as many progressives boycott Trump’s speech. Many of the House Democratic women sitting in the chamber are wearing white.