President Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday will set the tone for the implementation of key pillars of Republicans’ agenda, from regulatory rollbacks and “government efficiency” to unleashing American “energy dominance.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson invited Trump to the Capitol to share his “America First vision for our legislative future.” The president will give his speech — his first to House and Senate lawmakers in more than four years — a little more than a month into his second term, as his administration leads a chaotic push to reform the federal government.
“I would say hang on, because it’s been a wild 32 days and I think he’s going to emphasize it,” said Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), Trump’s first Interior secretary. “It’s going to be one of the greatest tickets ever.”
The outlook on the speech from Republicans and Democrats could hardly be more different. Allies of the president say they expect a positive message highlighting early accomplishments and ambitious goals for the next four years.
Democrats have indicated they don’t expect to be inspired by Trump’s remarks. Some suggested they could make their displeasure known during the speech.
“You don’t bring hope to that speech, from my perspective. Just clear eyes,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), ranking member on the House Natural Resources Committee. “They’re not subtle; there’s no mystery to this agenda.”
The address comes during a difficult moment for Congress. Trump will deliver his remarks 10 days before a government funding deadline and in the midst of a tricky budget reconciliation process that has exposed divisions among Republicans while frustrating Democrats.
Republicans are working to pass a party-line bill, with Trump’s blessing, that would increase energy production on federal lands, repeal renewable energy tax credits and undo climate-focused regulations.
At the same time, Trump adviser Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency are working to gut federal agencies and freeze congressionally appropriated funding.
Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio), chair of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy, said he hopes Trump will address the issue of rising energy demand and the need to modernize the electric grid.
“Those are the things that we’re dealing with in committee that we’re really concerned about,” he said, “and [when we] see what’s coming out of the White House — especially on the energy side right now — we know that he’s aware of those issues, and those are the issues that we’re looking for.”
Rep. Chuck Flesichmann (R-Tenn.), who spent time with Energy Secretary Chris Wright last week at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in his district, said he expects Trump’s remarks will reaffirm the administration’s goals to support energy production and enhanced energy security.
“I’m sure it’s going to be consistent with American dominance in energy,” Fleischmann said. “I’m sure it’s going to be positive.”
Democrats have come out in force to demonstrate that many of the administration’s early moves have had deleterious effects — including on renewable energy, water and climate programs — and they say they expect Trump to double down.
“I’m sure he’s going to say that somehow he’s saving money by eliminating all the EPA staff, right?” said Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), ranking member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has indicated he wants to cut EPA’s budget by 65 percent.
“It’s not going to save money to get rid of health and safety protections. It won’t.” Pallone said. “Obviously, we’re going to make it clear that we’re opposed to his policies. This is chaos.”
Huffman said Democrats will “try to express ourselves in a sober way while honoring decorum, but making it clear that this is not business as usual, this is not OK.”
Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin will deliver Democrats’ response, a major opportunity for the party to bash the administration’s funding freezes, civil service firings and regulatory rollbacks on national television.
She hinted that parts of her speech could put the Trump administration’s moves to undo the Biden administration efforts in an economic context.
Asked whether she would address EV manufacturing and the auto industry, Slotkin hinted that she would.
“Look, I’m from Michigan; I’m not gonna suddenly pretend I’m from somewhere else,” she said. “I’m from a state that feels a lot of these economic issues pretty powerfully.”
Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) will follow with Democrats’ Spanish-language response.
Energy and environment issues were prominent in Trump’s first speech to a joint session of Congress in 2017 and during his last one in 2020.
The president said in 2017, “We have cleared the way for the construction of the Keystone and Dakota Access Pipelines — thereby creating tens of thousands of jobs — and I’ve issued a new directive that new American pipelines be made with American steel.”
In 2020 he said, “Thanks to our bold regulatory reduction campaign, the United States has become the No. 1 producer of oil and natural gas in the world, by far.”
Reporter Kelsey Brugger contributed.
This story also appears in Climatewire.
