Multiple Reports Indicate That The U.s. Secret Service And The Department Of Homeland Security Both Reject Speaker Of The House Nancy Pelosi’s Stated Reason For Asking The President Of The United States To Postpone The State Of The Union Address.
On Wednesday, Pelosi wrote to the president to rescind her Jan. 3 invitation for him to address Congress on January 29, in keeping with tradition.
Secret Service is fully ready to offer full protection during the #SOTU, a sr. law enforcement official tells @petewilliamsnbc.
"It's a no-fail mission," the official says.
Though USSS personnel are not being paid, the intelligence & protection functions are fully staffed. (1/2)— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) January 16, 2019
"We've been planning for this for months, as we always do. It didn't start up 29 days ago," the official said. (2/2)
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) January 16, 2019
A senior DHS official tells me that Speaker Pelosi’s claim regarding security concerns surrounding the State of the Union during a shutdown has “zero” credibility… “It is a serious event but one we can handle.”
— Elizabeth Landers (@ElizLanders) January 16, 2019
Pelosi blamed a lack of available security due to the ongoing partial government shutdown: “This requires hundreds of people working on the logistics and security of it. Most of those people are either furloughed or victims of the shutdown. The president’s shutdown. But that isn’t the point. The point is security. … [It’s] a security decision which is completely out of my hands.” – READ MORE