WASHINGTON (Reuters) - US President Donald Trump has agreed to defer his traditional state of the Union speech beyond the end of the government's "closure," in response to a request from Democratic President Nancy Pelosi to paralyze federal administrations for more than a month.
The war of words between Trump and Pelosi culminated yesterday, when the Speaker of the House effectively prevented the US president from delivering his State of the Union address before the end of the government's "closure." Trump replied in a chant: "At a time when the closure was a reality, Nancy Pelosi told me about the state of the union and agreed, then changed her mind about the closure and suggested a date later, this is her mandate, I will address the state of the Union when the government closure ends. Trump refused to sign the budget for a number of departments in response to Democrats' refusal to control the House of Representatives his plan to create a border wall with Mexico, putting some 800,000 federal employees on unpaid leave or forced to work without pay.
The "closure" affects about a quarter of the federal agencies, prompting hundreds of government employees to sit for hours in Congress.
Although the House of Representatives has passed a number of laws that allow the reopening of closed administrations, the Republican-controlled Senate insists on financing the wall to resolve the crisis.