CSPAN - Washington Journal Emily Brooks
Aired: 2026-02-24
Duration: 04:57


=== Members Skipping the State of the Union (04:57) ===

[00:00:00]  Hear from you, ahead of President Trump's State of the Union address.
[00:00:03]  We're asking what would you like to hear from the president during his State of the Union speech.
[00:00:08]  Hi, my name is Gavin McKee.
[00:00:10]  I'm from Virginia.
[00:00:12]  I hope President Trump talks about America's full support for Ukraine.
[00:00:18]  We've given them a lot of weapons.
[00:00:20]  Let's give them enough to win.
[00:00:22]  You know, hi, I'm Leo from Argentina.
[00:00:26]  Well, like how I am here visiting Washington, but I hope that President Trump brings more calm to the people because all the things are happening right now in the world.
[00:00:41]  I'm not good for everyone.
[00:00:43]  My name's Melissa Jaggers.
[00:00:44]  I'm from Nashville, Tennessee, and I'd really like to hear the President address issues such as immigration and how that's being handled currently and also public education.
[00:00:53]  C-SPAN's Voices, delivering democracy unfiltered.
[00:00:57]  Be part of the conversation.
[00:01:02]  I want to introduce Emily Brooks, congressional reporter at The Hill, joining us this morning to talk about the congressional side of the State of the Union.
[00:01:10]  Emily, hi, thanks for joining us.
[00:01:13]  Thank you for having me.
[00:01:14]  All right, let's dive right in.
[00:01:15]  Members have been posting about whether or not they will be attending the State of the Union.
[00:01:20]  How many Democrats do you know are expected to skip or boycott this evening?
[00:01:27]  Well, we don't have an exact count yet, but the number is in the dozens.
[00:01:32]  You know, the House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries, had told his members either attend and sit in silent defiance or boycott and go do something else that's off campus.
[00:01:44]  What he does not want is a repeat of last year when Democrats were holding up signs, being a distraction from President Trump's address, and having a bit of backlash on them.
[00:01:58]  You know, that kind of visible protest during the State of the Union risks looking poorly on Democrats.
[00:02:05]  And so that's why he was telling his members to either attend and sit silently or don't attend and protest.
[00:02:12]  But there are a number of other off-campus events going on that some Democrats are attending.
[00:02:19]  One of them is called a People's State of the Union, and many members are attending that rather than attend President Trump's address.
[00:02:29]  Emily, you've been on the Hill for some time.
[00:02:31]  You said dozens of members so far are expected to skip.
[00:02:35]  How unique is that for multiple members of the opposition party on either side to just not show up to the State of the Union?
[00:02:44]  You know, I think we've seen it in the past.
[00:02:47]  We'll see exactly what the chamber looks like.
[00:02:49]  I think that the absence of members being in person at the State of the Union and not being in there at all, maybe having a lot of empty seats on the floor and showing how many Democrats are just refusing to listen at all would be a pretty big statement.
[00:03:08]  So we'll see if how much it's filled looks different than in previous years, but that could be a bigger message than any, you know, head shaking or silent defiance if members do show up.
[00:03:23]  So we'll see how big it ultimately ends up being.
[00:03:26]  You mentioned one of the Democratic alternative events that some of the members who are skipping the State of the Union will be attending.
[00:03:35]  How many official events are there that are going to be kind of alternate protest events to the State of the Union?
[00:03:43]  Well, we're tracking that one as the People's State of the Union.
[00:03:46]  It's on the National Mall.
[00:03:48]  There are a number of, you know, high-profile Democrats that are attending that, like Senators Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, Chris Murphy.
[00:03:57]  And there's also an event at the National Press Club called the State of the Swamp.
[00:04:01]  You know, some members are going to the State of the Union and also that event.
[00:04:06]  So it's sort of hard to tell, but Representatives Jason Crow and Seth Moulton are expected to be at that State of the Swamp event.
[00:04:14]  And so there might be some other alternative events.
[00:04:17]  I know that Don Beyer, a Democratic congressman for Northern Virginia area, said that he's meeting with constituents this evening rather than attending the State of the Union.
[00:04:28]  And so even if they're not at one of these official alternative events, Democrats could be doing their protests by not attending in some other ways.
[00:04:38]  Now let's talk about the guests that folks are bringing.
[00:04:41]  We still don't know exactly who the White House will be bringing, but members have been posting for days now about who they expect to bring to the chamber with them, those that are going.
[00:04:52]  Who are Democrats bringing?
[00:04:55]  Who have Republicans invited?