Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) suggested Monday that his Republican colleagues in the House should deny an invitation to President Joe Biden to deliver his State of the Union address over the GOP’s displeasure at the handling of the southern border.
House Speaker Mike Johnson already invited Biden in early January, and the president accepted the offer to speak on Capitol Hill on March 7. In the weeks since, however, Republicans have made the border a lingering issue, rejecting a bipartisan bill after former President Donald Trump voiced opposition to it.
On Fox Business Network, Perry insisted that “we need to use every single point of leverage” to help bring about legislation he sees as acceptable, and that “certainly” includes the president’s annual address to Congress.
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“He comes at the invitation of Congress. The Republicans are in control of the House,” Perry told Maria Bartiromo on Mornings with Maria. “There’s no reason that we need to invite him to get more propaganda and actually blame the American people for the crisis he caused.”
“We can spend the time reminding America that on day one, [Biden] countervailed the last administration’s policies that were securing our border,” Perry claimed. “That’s what probably the time would be better spent served using.”
Perry isn’t the only member of Congress floating the idea that Biden shouldn’t be welcomed, with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) stating in a press release earlier this month that the president should first “have a plan in place” regarding spending.
“At a time when Americans are facing skyrocketing inflation and the world is on fire, we deserve more than just empty rhetoric,” she said. “That’s why, before he delivers his State of the Union, I’m calling on President Biden to put in the work and submit his budget and National Security Strategy.”
Other members of Congress, however, may relish the opportunity to once again try and become the center of attention. At last year’s address, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) couldn’t help but yell at the president while wearing an ostentatious, fur-lined white coat.
