Sohn: Pelosi gives American carnage a civics lesson

President Donald Trump during a roundtable discussion about California’s so-called sanctuary laws in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, May 16, 2018.  (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
President Donald Trump during a roundtable discussion about California’s so-called sanctuary laws in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, May 16, 2018. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a letter to President Donald Trump on Wednesday disinvited the president from delivering a State of the Union address on the floor of the House on Jan. 29. She suggests the president postpone the address until the government shutdown - now 28 days and counting - is over. She suggested he work with her to set a new date, or submit a written State of the Union address as some past presidents have done, or give a televised address from the Oval Office.

Can she do this? You bet she can. She did. And she was absolutely right to do so - and brilliant, all at the same time.

First, look at her reasoning:

Trump and Congress have been in a standoff for weeks over the president's refusal to sign a government funding bill unless it includes $5.7 billion for the construction of some 200 miles of wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. Now, the government shutdown - the one Trump said he would be proud to own - wouldn't allow Secret Service and others to plan fully for the annual presidential address or be able to offer comprehensive protection for all involved.

This is, after all, the one event a year at which the president; vice president; all of Congress, save one member; the president's Cabinet, save one secretary; the Supreme Court; the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and America's diplomatic corps are all in the same room for at least an hour.

It's a national security nightmare waiting to happen. That we would stage this now, while 800,000 federal employees, including some who work security, are furloughed or working without pay, is ludicrous.

But forget security for a moment. What are the optics of this massive elected-leader gathering when we're not paying our unelected government workers?

Second, look at Pelosi's legal standing in this, given the guidance of our Constitution, and the rules Congress has set for the House of Representatives.

The Constitution sets no specific date for the president to "give to the Congress information of the State of the Union."

For the first decade of the national government, presidents appeared in person before a Joint Session of Congress to deliver their annual messages. But beginning with Thomas Jefferson in 1801, presidents sent the message in writing to be read by House clerks and Senate secretaries, respectively. In 1913, Woodrow Wilson resurrected the in-person address.

The "where" for this address has more Constitutional heft. The Speaker of the House presides over Joint Sessions for addresses of the president or visiting foreign leaders. The President of the Senate presides over Joint Sessions where electoral votes are counted.

But is there anything to prevent Trump from crashing his disinvitation? Not really.

Although it was tradition in our Founders' time to obey a strict "separation of powers," for most of our nation's later history, the president's access to the Capitol has been unrestricted. House rules do, in general, restrict entry to the Hall of the House of Representatives to members performing legislative business, but those rules also include a list of other people who are allowed access - including both the president and the vice president.

However, additional House rules detail parliamentary procedures and demands of decorum. Those rules give the speaker - and the speaker alone - control of debate on the House floor.

Thus, without express permission from Pelosi, Trump could not start giving a speech in the Hall of the House.

Imagine the scene if the president barges in and does his wall campaign act, screaming over Pelosi's gavel.

Members who speak out of order in the House open themselves up to censure or other punishment. Think of the reprimand and public apology demanded of the South Carolina representative who shouted that President Barack Obama was a liar during one of his speeches to a Joint Session. Protesters have been removed by officers.

Can you fathom the national consternation this would prompt?

As for Pelosi's brilliance with this letter? It's multi-layered. She saves herself for another day from the headache of trying to herd the 435 cats in her House - especially those new rebellious ones who might well stand and rebuke Trump.

But she also deprives the president of that which he loves best: a live and captive audience coupled with a cameras and microphones.

CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins reported on Wednesday that Trump aide Stephen Miller and other speechwriters have for weeks been working on Trump's State of the Union address. They were looking forward to focusing on - you guessed it - the government shutdown, their newest self-engineered national emergency.

It looks now as if they won't have that opportunity.

Perhaps they could set up their campaign flags and cameras in a darkened federal office building near you.

Talk about American carnage.

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