When President Donald Trump enters the House chamber for the first State of the Union address of his second term on Tuesday, Democrats intend to make their discontent known.
A growing number are ditching the event all together, either to attend counterprogramming on the national mall or speak with constituents. Some say they plan to attend the speech but sit there silently, not joining Republicans in applauding the president at any points.
The remaining Democrats in the chamber are a wildcard — and could be the biggest headache for House Democratic leaders.
Follow MS NOW’s State of the Union live blog for the latest updates and analysis on the president’s address.
Whether Trump receives the same rowdy reception as last year’s address from Democrats — or whether Democratic leaders successfully convince their members to keep the focus on the president — remains to be seen.
House Democratic leaders have been clear they prefer the stoic approach, hoping to give a president who’s becoming more unpopular the more he talks all the camera time he desires.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York has urged his members in the chamber to not make a scene — an approach he’s dubbed “silent defiance.” The other option, he said, is to send a “message” by not attending at all.
Jeffries is choosing the former, opting to attend the speech. Last week, he told reporters the president “is coming to our House.”
“It’s my view that you don’t let anyone ever run you off of your block,” he said.
Some Democrats also appear onboard with the “silent defiant” approach. Freshman Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., told MS NOW he plans to attend and that, in his view, the more Trump has talked, “the less popular he is with the American people.”
“So let him talk,” he said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., also said he will be at the speech, telling reporters it’s “important to confront” Trump “face to face.”
“I refuse to let him bully me out of the room,” he said. “I will be defiant in whatever way is appropriate. Certainly by silence — I won’t be standing and applauding.”
And Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. — who Trump labeled a traitor for his part in a video urging service members to not follow “illegal” orders — said he will attend in part to send a message of resistance to Trump.
“The guy he wanted to hang in November, the guy he wanted to throw into prison two weeks ago and tried to indict federally,” Kelly said, “is going to be sitting there, right in front of him.”
If all Democrats follow the don’t-make-a-scene marching orders, it would be in stark contrast to a dramatic episode during last March’s joint address. It was then, just a few minutes into Trump’s speech, when Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, stood up, wagged his cane, and shouted at the president.
He was subsequently removed from the chamber and later censured by the House. Notably, 10 Democrats joined with Republicans in voting to reprimand him.
There were other quiet Democratic protests last year, too.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus, for instance, distributed signs that read “Save Medicaid” and “Musk Steals” — a reference to former special government employee Elon Musk and the federal spending and staffing cuts he imposed through his so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
With Democrats facing pressure from their base to more forcefully push back on the president, there are outstanding questions if there could be a repeat of last year.
On Monday afternoon, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., indicated disruptions would not be tolerated. He told MS NOW that “everybody needs to be on their best behavior, on both sides.”
One way Democrats will have a chance to send a message Tuesday — without making a peep — is through their invited guests, who will get to watch the speech from the gallery overlooking the House chamber.
Several are bringing survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, ensuring the fight over the release of the files, which has clouded the past few months of Trump’s term, will be front and center.
Even if the president, as expected, doesn’t touch the Epstein topic at all, Democrats — and some Republicans — intend to keep making it an issue.
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, has invited relatives of the late Virginia Giuffre, an alleged victim of Epstein’s.
Other Democrats are taking a similar approach.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who spearheaded the bill to force the release of the Epstein files, is bringing Haley Robson — another alleged Epstein survivor. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., invited her constituent, Marijke Chartouni, who also says she survived sexual assault at the hands of Epstein. And Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif. — the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, which is conducting its own probe of the Epstein affair — has invited Annie Farmer, the sister of alleged Epstein survivor Maria Farmer.
Garcia told MS NOW it’s not just important for Farmer and survivors to have a chance to be there, but for Trump to “know and acknowledge that they’re going to be there in the audience.”
But at the same time, Garcia himself will not be attending the president’s remarks — and he’s not alone.
More than two dozen Democrats have already indicated they will be skipping the speech — a gesture that’s unprecedented in the modern era.
The list of Democrats sitting out the State of the Union includes top-ranking Democrats, like Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who in a post on social media called Trump “easily the most corrupt President in American history” and said she will not be attending to “listen to him ramble and lie.”
Others opting to skip are the subject of 2028 presidential speculation, such as Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz. In a statement, Gallego said he had “more productive ways to spend two hours than listening to more lies.”
“I’ll pass,” he said.
Many Democrats will instead be speaking at a separate rally on the National Mall, sponsored by the progressive organizations MoveOn and MeidasTouch.
Billed as “counterprogramming” to the president’s “night full of lies,” the so-called ‘People’s State of the Union’ will feature a list of speakers that includes Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., as well as Reps. Becca Balint, D-Vt., and Greg Casar, D-Texas.
But while the approaches to their speech may be different, Subramanyam told MS NOW to not confuse that for division in the party’s ranks.
“We’re unified in the sense that we’re all angry, we’re all upset at what’s happening to our country,” he said. “And we all have different districts and different ways that we’re handling it and expressing it.”
Jack Fitzpatrick contributed to this report.
Follow MS NOW’s State of the Union live blog for the latest updates and analysis on the president’s address.
Kevin Frey is a congressional reporter for MS NOW.
Mychael Schnell is a reporter for MS NOW.