Bill would block Biden from delivering State of the Union without budget, security plan
President Biden would be barred from delivering the State of the Union address to Congress until he sends along a budget request and national security strategy, under legislation introduced Monday by Sen. Joni Ernst
The Send Us Budget Materials & International Tactics In Time (SUBMIT IT) Act would block House and Senate leadership from inviting the president to give the annual address until lawmakers receive those materials.
“Well, actions speak louder than words, folks, and Biden’s budget is late once again,” Ernst (R-Iowa) said in a statement obtained by The Post. “If the President is going to be allowed the opportunity to address Congress and the entire nation, he should actually have a plan in place.”
Ernst, whose bill is unlikely to go anywhere in the Democrat-controlled Senate, cited two federal laws requiring the president to furnish both plans on the first Monday of February.
Biden, 81, is set to deliver his third State of the Union address on March 7.
The Constitution requires the president to “from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”
There is no requirement that the speech be delivered in person, as every president since Woodrow Wilson has done.
“President Biden accepted Speaker Johnson’s invitation to address a Joint Session of Congress on March 7, 2024, to report on the state of our union,” a White House official told The Post in response to Ernst’s proposal.
“At a time when Americans are facing skyrocketing inflation and the world is on fire, we deserve more than just empty rhetoric,” Ernst added. “After all, President Biden himself has said, ‘Don’t show me what you value, show me your budget.’ He can consider this a one-month warning … the clock is ticking!”
The Hawkeye State Republican specifically noted the Budget Act of 1974 requires presidents to submit spending requests on the first Monday of February, though in practice submissions may occur later.
Ernst also pointed to the National Security Act of 1947 and argued that law mandates the president present his national security strategy at the same time as the budget request.
Congress has yet to fully fund federal operations for the rest of this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
Lawmakers currently have until March 1 to pass the first tranche of four appropriations bills and until March 8 to pass the remaining eight.
