By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor
Forty-two days into his second term, President Donald Trump and his Administration have made unprecedented decisions that have put thousands of federal workers in fear of losing their jobs.
“Tomorrow night will be big. I will tell it like it is,” Trump wrote in all capital letters on social media on Monday morning.
Trump and his staff have repeatedly defined diversity and inclusion policies as “reverse” racist. The constant push against diversity has prompted companies and government entities to fire any individual related to diversity, equity or inclusion.
An outstanding question is what the strategy should be to push back as the sixty two member Congressional Black Caucus, Chaired by New York Congresswoman Yvette Clarke served in a Congress where they find themselves in the minority.
Yesterday, GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson stated that Democrats needed to have decorum during Trump’s Joint Speech to Congress tomorrow night.
“Are you expecting Democrats to put on some kind of a resistance show on Tuesday night?” asked Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo.
“I hope they respect the decorum of the institution. It’s really important,” Speaker Johnson responded.
The CBC has not announced a counter-programming plan for Trump’s first joint address. But in past, State of the Union addresses have featured three kinds of protests. Those actions have included members avoiding the speech, members yelling at the President from the floor, and members wearing various attire in protest.
On March 2nd House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries stated that the GOP has walked “away from the negotiating table” regarding budget talks that could lead to a government shutdown this month.
The tension right before President Trump’s first joint address to Congress sets up for a contentious State of the Union.
During a joint session of Congress in Sept. 2009, Republican Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) yelled out “you lie” at President Barack Obama, briefly interrupting the address.
After Trump’s Feb. 4, 2020 speech to Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stood up and ripped Trump’s speech in half in her position behind the President at the podium.
In his first State of the Union address on January 30, 2018, President Donald Trump emphasized tax reforms and job creation. He also called for a $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan that never came to fruition. In 2018 he advocated for stricter immigration laws, proposing a merit-based system.
This morning, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced that he is launching a movement to flood members of Congress with calls speaking out against the decisions of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent investigative journalist and the owner of Black Virginia News. She is a political analyst who appears regularly on #RolandMartinUnfiltered and speaks on Crisis Comms on YouTube @LaurenVictoriaBurke. She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke.
