As President Donald Trump returns to the House chamber Tuesday night with the first joint session of Congress of his second term, Democrat boycotts and Capitol grounds fencing are returning, too.
The fences going up to protect the grounds are far more elaborate than the setups on Jan. 6, 2021 that were tossed aside by protesters.
"Fences back ahead of Trump's speech tonight," a Reuters reporter posted on X.
Outside Washington, the latest round of public protest against Trump and his administration also was unfolding Tuesday. Loosely coordinated groups planned demonstrations in all 50 states and the District of Colombia timed to Trump's address.
Tariff fallouts, mass deportation of illegal migrants, pausing of Ukraine aid, and opposition to DOGE slashing federal agencies and workers are fueling protests opposing Trump's policies.
Trump's speech promises to have a raucous element with Republican lawmakers cheering on Trump and Democrats expressing their opposition to what he lists as his achievements.
While Democrats are not planning a broad boycott of the speech, emerging leading opposing force Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., was among those who said he would not attend, calling the address "a farce."
The speech — similar to a State of the Union address but not called that because Trump was only inaugurated in January — will take place inside the House at 9:10 p.m. ET.
Trump is expected to use his speech to laud his rapid-fire efforts to slash the size of the federal bureaucracy, reduce the flow of migrants over the U.S.-Mexico border, and his use of tariffs to force foreign nations to bow to his demands.
Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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