Why some Democratic lawmakers will boycott Trump's address to Congress

Some Democratic lawmakers will boycott President Donald Trump’s address Tuesday night before a joint session of Congress.

Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, a state hit hard by federal firings, said he has never missed a speech but that the challenges demand “more than sitting in a chamber” listening as if Trump were not “unleashing chaos and cruelty on their lives.”

“These are not normal times,” Connolly said.

Also in Northern Virginia, Rep. Don Beyer, said he’d be rallying this week with federal workers and contractors.

“I will choose our community over President Donald Trump every single day,” Beyer said.

Rep. Kweisi Mfume, of Maryland, said: “Donald Trump and Elon Musk are destroying the state of the union. I don’t need to be there to watch him claim otherwise.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on Bluesky, “I’m not going to the Joint Address. I will be live posting and chatting with you all here instead. Then going on IG Live after.”

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. tweeted “I’ll start attending when he starts following the law.”

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, also said she won’t attend.

“Instead, I’m meeting with constituents who have been harmed by this administration’s reckless firings and its illegal and ongoing funding freeze across government,” Murry said.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told colleagues it’s “important to have a strong, determined and dignified Democratic presence” for Trump’s speech.

“The House as an institution belongs to the American people,” Jeffries wrote in a letter to colleagues, “and as their representatives we will not be run off the block or bullied.”

A crowd of federal workers, supporters and lawmakers rallied Monday outside the headquarters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Maryland, protesting job cuts by President Donald Trump’s administration. News4’s Joseph Olmo spoke with Reps. Jamie Raskin and Glenn Ivey of Maryland.

Trump will stand before a joint session of Congress to give an accounting of his turbulent first weeks in office as a divided nation struggles to keep pace, with some Americans fearing for the country’s future while others cheer him on.

The White House said Trump’s theme will be the “renewal of the American dream.” He is expected to lay out his achievements since returning to the White House, as well as appeal to Congress to provide more money to finance his aggressive immigration crackdown.

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“It’s an opportunity for President Trump, as only he can, to lay out the last month of record-setting, record-breaking, unprecedented achievements and accomplishments,” senior adviser Stephen Miller said.