The State of the Union

In Section 3 of Article II of the U.S. Constitution, we read the following about the duties of the President: "He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient..."

I will readily admit that this is a vague provision. You will notice that nothing is specifically said about how often ("from time to time") this information should be provided. Likewise, there aren't any specifics about how the information is to be provided (In times past, presidents had their SOTU delivered to Congress as a written document).

In his initial response to Speaker Pelosi's suggestion that he not deliver his SOTU until the government shutdown ended or consider submitting it to Congress in writing, Trump threatened to find another venue to deliver the address. Later, he changed tactics and acted as if he would deliver the address in the House chamber anyway. However, when she made it clear that this wasn't an option, he decided that he would wait until the shutdown had ended.

He tweeted: "As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative - I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over. I am not looking for an alternative venue for the SOTU Address because there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber. I look forward to giving a “great” State of the Union Address in the near future!"

Alternative venue? I wonder if Trump or anyone else has noticed that this vague provision of the Constitution is very specific that the SOTU has to be given to CONGRESS. Delivering an address to the public on television or in a rally would not satisfy this requirement! Hence, if Trump had proceeded with some alternative venue, he would have been in violation of this provision of the U.S. Constitution!