The following message from Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer was emailed February 2, 2018:
On Tuesday, President Trump gave his first State of the Union address, in which he took credit for building “a safe, strong, and proud America.” Unfortunately, the actions he has taken during the first year of his presidency prove otherwise. A look at his record over the last year shows he has made Americans less safe, less strong, and less proud. In addition, his speech was divisive and appealed to his partisan base, instead of reaching across the aisle.
In addition, Congress is facing another deadline to fund the government next week. Democrats continue to call for a budget agreement that provides an equal increase in defense and non-defense spending so that we can responsibly fund government – as Speaker Ryan has agreed to for the last four years. We must also reauthorize critical health programs, aid our fellow Americans recovering from natural disasters, provide funding for the urgent opioid crisis, and protect hardworking Americans’ pensions. Finally, this week, President Trump and Congressional Republicans have proven they are willing to undermine the rule of law for partisan gain to protect the President by releasing a misleading classified memo. I joined my Democratic colleagues in a bicameral letter warning President Trump against using this memo to fire Special Counsel Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. If he takes that action, it could result in a constitutional crisis of the kind not seen since the Saturday Night Massacre. In addition, following reports Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Nunes altered the memo sent to the White House without Committee approval, I’ve set a letter to Speaker Ryan asking him to remove Nunes from his position as Chair of the House Intelligence Committee.
Sincerely yours,
Steny H. Hoyer