Even after President Donald Trump canceled military support for her overseas travel plans, citing the ongoing shutdown, it looks like Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is still leaving town.
Citing security concerns, Pelosi reportedly postponed and then canceled a civilian flight to several overseas locations earlier this week. However, the House majority leader was spotted toting her carry-on baggage at Reagan International Airport Friday evening, making it clear that she would be abandoning White House negotiations during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
Jet-setting Democrat
MSNBC’s Garrett Haake was one of the first to spot the House speaker at the airport. She appeared to be accompanied by her staff and security detail.
Later, Fox News’s Peter Doocy reported that Pelosi “appears” to be leaving.
Looks like @SpeakerPelosi won’t be staying in DC for the weekend. She and her detail just passed me at Reagan National Airport. pic.twitter.com/g2UV8hwYql
— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) January 18, 2019
Pelosi was scheduled to lead a congressional delegation to Brussels and Afghanistan. During the stop in Europe, which a Pelosi spokesman said was required “for pilot rest,” the delegation was expected to meet with NATO commanders and U.S. allies “to affirm the United States’ ironclad commitment to the NATO alliance.”
Trump has been an outspoken critic of the NATO alliance, and has blasted European leaders for failing to commit a fair share of resource towards the coalition’s common defense capabilities. Many of these Eurocrats have snubbed the U.S. president in the past, and Pelosi may have wanted to use the opportunity of her visit to further undermine Trump’s attempts to get European nations to fund their own defense.
Next, the Pelosi delegation intended to visit Afghanistan, where Trump recently ordered the withdrawal of about 7,000 U.S. troops, or half of the current garrison. “The purpose of the trip was to express appreciation & thanks to our men & women in uniform for their service & dedication, & to obtain critical national security & intelligence briefings from those on the front lines,” wrote Drew Hammill, the House speaker’s communications director.
Pelosi bails on talks
Just hours before Pelosi was due to depart on an Air Force flight for Brussels, Trump canceled the trip, noting that “if you would like to make your journey by flying commercial, that would certainly be your prerogative.” As commander-in-chief, Trump oversees all military aircraft and has the authority to cancel or approve congressional itineraries.
Initially, it was widely reported that the White House canceled Pelosi’s trip as an act of revenge for the House majority leader’s request that Trump cancel his State of the Union address. However, there was no evidence to support this charge, and the president told Pelosi that it would be “better if you were in Washington negotiating with me and joining the Strong Border Security movement to end the Shutdown.”
Currently, more than 800,000 federal government workers have been furloughed while Democrats and Republicans grapple over a requested $5 billion in discretionary spending for parts of a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump signed legislation on Wednesday guaranteeing that the unpaid workers will receive retroactive pay once the shutdown is over.
Get to work
But the shutdown cannot end if Pelosi and other House Democrats are off globe-trotting on a mission to discredit the president’s foreign policy agenda.
When the military air transport was denied to her on Thursday, Pelosi first postponed and then canceled her delegation, arguing that White House leaks made the security situation in Afghanistan too perilous to continue. “We weren’t going to go because we had a report from Afghanistan that the president outing our trip had made the scene on the ground much more dangerous because it’s just a signal to the bad actors that we’re coming. You never give advance notice of going into a battle area. You just never do,” Pelosi said.
However, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders strongly denied that allegation, arguing, “It’s unbecoming of the speaker to make that type of accusation.”
Another unnamed White House official dismissed the idea that the administration endangered the delegation. “When the speaker of the House and about 20 others from Capitol Hill decide to book their own commercial flights to Afghanistan, the world is going to find out,” the official said. “The idea we would leak anything that would put the safety and security of any American at risk is a flat-out lie.”
Trump is expected to make a “major announcement” sometime Saturday afternoon. Some observers have speculated that the president plans to make Democrats an offer on the border wall, hoping to revive the stalled talks.
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