Trump to bring message on expanded executive power to a diminished Congress
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- The address comes six weeks into an administration that has shown greater command over the workings of federal bureaucracy than in Trump’s first term.
- Democratic lawmakers are strategizing how to handle the speech, fearful of becoming a foil to Trump on live television.
WASHINGTON — In his first address to a joint session of Congress, President Trump opened with an appeal for unity, a condemnation of hate and a call to resume the fight for civil rights: “That torch is now in our hands,” he told anxious lawmakers and a nation on edge.
That was eight years ago. This time, on Tuesday evening, Trump is expected to return to the House chamber with a less magnanimous message that asserts a more muscular presidency wielding unparalleled executive power. “Tomorrow night will be big,” the president wrote on social media. “I will tell it like it is!”
The address comes just six weeks into an administration that has shown greater command over the workings of federal bureaucracy and, to date, has operated without much action from Congress, where Republican lawmakers, in charge of both houses, are already ceding authority over government spending and foreign affairs.
On Tuesday, President Trump will give his first address to a joint session of Congress since taking office this year. Here’s how to watch.
Since coming to office, Trump has issued 76 executive orders, according to the federal registry, vastly outpacing former President Biden, who issued 77 executive orders in his entire first year in office.
And, despite repeated bipartisan votes in support of aid to Ukraine, Trump comes to the chamber threatening to cut off support to the U.S. ally in its ongoing defense against Russia’s invasion.
Democratic lawmakers are strategizing how to handle the speech, fearful of becoming a foil to Trump on live television. “A fair number of people aren’t going,” said one senior Democratic congressional aide.
Then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed the California Values Act into law in 2017, limiting state and local law enforcement’s cooperation with federal immigration agents.
Those who will attend plan on bringing guests to sit in the chamber gallery representing causes that defy the president’s priorities. California’s two senators, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, are both expected to bring first responders who helped fight the fires that ravaged Los Angeles last month — a message to an administration that says it may defund FEMA and place conditions on federal funding for California to rebuild.
Rep. George Whitesides (D-Agua Dulce) has invited Jasmin Dominguez, a Lancaster resident who helped coordinate mapping during the recent L.A. fires through the U.S. Forest Service, and was fired during recent federal layoffs.
But Democratic leaders are discouraging open displays of defiance — a significant departure from Trump’s first term when, in 2020, then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi of California ripped up her copy of the president’s remarks after he finished speaking.
Trump’s executive actions have been broad and ambitious since he took office, establishing the definition of a person’s sex, setting English as the country’s official language and undoing environmental protections. How many of the executive orders will be implemented remains unclear, as some of the economic-related orders rely on funding from Congress to enact. Still, they remain one of Trump’s most effective messaging tools to indicate his priorities since taking office.
Among his administration’s other top priorities is drastically downsizing the federal government. The so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is already responsible for firing thousands of federal workers in the last month, with the stated aim of rooting out waste, fraud and abuse — a series of cuts that have circumvented congressional appropriations of a host of programs and agencies.
DOGE’s actions have yet to yield significant economic savings, but the decimation of USAID, the Department of Education and the National Institutes of Health has sent workers across various industries scrambling to figure out how to deliver usual services.
As the architect of DOGE, Elon Musk has been given almost limitless access to the inner workings of the federal government. Musk also serves as one of Trump’s closest advisors, attending Cabinet meetings, accompanying the president on Air Force One and joining Trump for one of his first sit-down interviews with Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
Meanwhile, French Prime Minister François Bayrou criticizes Trump’s Oval Office thrashing of Zelensky, calling it a staggering show of ‘brutality.’
While DOGE has usurped much of the attention in Trump’s first days in office, his promise to secure the southern border remains a frequent refrain for administration officials. Over the weekend, Trump touted the fact that border crossings have dropped since he took office.
His administration has also worked to increase mass deportations. While the number of deportations has actually dropped slightly since Trump took office, the administration is preparing to expand its detention capacity — including sending migrants to the maximum security holding cells on Guantanamo Bay.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he expects “fireworks” from the speech, calling the event a “triumphant return” for the president after four years out of office. Jason Miller, a top aide to the president, told Fox News on Monday that Trump plans to focus the speech on bringing down costs — including tackling inflation, lowering government spending, and convincing Congress to pass “one big, beautiful tax bill” later this year.
“What comes next is so critical,” Miller said, “because the country is in a really bad place where Joe Biden left it, even with all the fantastic accomplishments, which, by the way, I think George Washington and all the rest of the presidents would envy.
“We’re also going to see President Trump talk a little bit about things such as making sure we get to Mars, winning the AI race against China,” he said, “and making sure we have a Marshall Plan for energy for the next generation.”
The speech, scheduled for 6 p.m. Pacific time, will be followed by a Democratic response from Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin.
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