After 30 years, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett will attend his 27th and final State of the Union address as a congressman on Tuesday night.
AUSTIN, Texas — President Donald Trump will deliver his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. It’s his fourth State of the Union address, the first of his second term, following the three he gave in his first term from 2018 to 2020.
For one Texas congressman, it’s the end of an era.
After 30 years in the lower chamber, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) will attend his final State of the Union address as a congressman on Tuesday.
He’s not running for re-election because Republicans redrew the congressional map over the summer in hopes of securing five more Republican seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The U.S. Constitution requires that the president update Congress and recommend policies for lawmakers to consider, though it doesn’t specify precisely when that address should take place.
“I think the State of the Union is chaotic and the Trump regime is really in disarray, focused more on its own petty grievances than on the problems that most of the families that I have contact with in Central Texas really have,” Doggett said.
First elected to Congress in 1994, Doggett has represented several different districts as Texas has redrawn its congressional boundaries over the years. This will be the 27th State of the Union address he has attended, the 11th given by a Republican president, on top of the 16 that he has attended for Democratic presidents.
Asked about what his most memorable speech or moment from all of them is, Doggett pointed to what he called “a sad event,” when former South Carolina Republican Congressman Joe Wilson yelled out “you lie!” during President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech in 2009.
“If we were to do that tonight, it would be nonstop,” Doggett said.
The other Democratic congressman from Austin, U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, will not be at the speech on Tuesday night. He is among at least 40 Democrats boycotting Trump’s Address.
Instead, he’ll be at a rally billed as the “People’s State of the Union.” It will take place on the National Mall at the same time as the president’s speech. In a social media post on Tuesday morning, Casar said, “Americans don’t need a rambling, two-hour lecture from Trump.”
“We need our money back. He owes us: $1,700 in illegal tariffs per family, $4 billion he’s profited off the presidency, and $1 trillion he stole in tax breaks for the ultra-rich,” Casar wrote. “Spare us the speech. Pay up or shut up.”
Doggett said he feels a responsibility to attend the speech.
“I agree, it’s a close question, and I don’t question any of those who choose to stay away. But I don’t believe in yielding the people’s house to Trump and his enablers to have a campaign rally there,” Doggett said.
Under the new map, Texas Republicans redrew the Austin-area districts to favor Republicans further, shifting much of Austin into districts dominated by suburban and rural Republican voters.
In the new map, District 35 no longer stretches from Austin to San Antonio, but instead from Guadalupe County down to San Antonio and east of Interstate 35.
That district is currently represented by Casar, meaning that Doggett, who represents the current District 37, would have to face off against Casar in a March primary. Instead of doing that, Doggett is choosing to retire.
If Democratic lawmakers do attend, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has encouraged members of his caucus to do so “in silent defiance.”
Doggett said there may be laughter or sighs from Democrats during the speech, but any protest from him will come afterward, not during it.
“I plan to listen to the president and respond thereafter forcefully,” Doggett said. “I hope that what we have is an opportunity here that more Americans listen to what he says, and then realize that unless they get more engaged, we will continue moving more and more away from democracy into one man autocracy.”
President Trump is expected to use his address to the nation to address voters’ economic concerns ahead of the midterm elections in November. The White House said the president will outline an “ambitious agenda” on the economy.
“The president is going to make the case that three more years with him in the White House and with Republicans on Capitol Hill, we can finally achieve the American dream in this country again,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Doggett said he believes the Trump administration has not succeeded on the economy, and its policies have led to higher prices, a loss of manufacturing jobs, and slower growth than before.
“On almost every index of that we can look at, the Trump administration is failing our economy,” Doggett said. “I think American families see that when they go to pay higher prices at the grocery store from his tariff taxes, and as we face rising energy costs from his attacks on renewables, which Texas has been a leader in.”
President Trump is reportedly expected to unveil new domestic policies aimed at tackling affordability, including a commitment from tech companies to pay higher electricity costs in areas where AI data centers are being built.
“I think his energy policies will drive energy prices up for tech companies and everyone else. Because he’s taking all he’s trying to take out of Operation Solar and Wind, which has been so important in Texas, and putting it all on dirty coal and fossil fuels,” Doggett said. “I think the president’s policies are just completely out of touch with ordinary Texas families.”
President Trump may address the uncertainty over trade and tariffs after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the tariffs he had imposed on nearly every country using an emergency powers law. He has slammed some members of the high court for their decision, saying they should be “ashamed” for not having what he called the “courage to do what’s right for our country.”
Those justices, if they attend the speech, will be sitting just feet away from the president, right in front of him.
President Trump is now planning to impose a 15% global tariff, arguing it would protect American industry. A growing list of companies, including FedEx, which sued the Trump administration on Monday, are demanding that the federal government repay tariffs that were collected before the court’s ruling. The new tariff is under another trade law that limits its use to 150 days.
“After that, if he’s going to keep these tariffs in place, he has to have Republicans support him with extended legislation. I hope they will not do that,” Doggett said. “They could have stopped him over recent months and prevented this spiraling price increase from this tariff tax. They now need to join us, as a handful of them did recently, to oppose tariffs on Canada and say this is a trade war Trump started that no one will win.”
Foreign policy will also likely be front and center on Tuesday night. In recent weeks, President Trump has sent two U.S. aircraft carriers to the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran. The major U.S. military buildup in the region comes as President Trump is reportedly considering a limited strike on Iran. The White House has not said if President Trump plans to give new details on potential action against Iran during his speech.
Doggett said he will be listening especially closely to what the president has to say about it on Tuesday night.
“I am greatly concerned that he’s about to get us into a quagmire with a nation that’s much larger and more powerful than Iraq. We know that so many lives were lost and so many dollars were given away for no good purpose,” Doggett said. “The invasion of Iraq that was unnecessary and this quagmire and this battle with Iran that he started last year is not likely to have a better result.”
The White House said President Trump will also highlight the upcoming celebrations for America’s 250th birthday and focus on stories of American Heroes.
Doggett said if the president expresses “real, genuine effort” to bring Americans together instead of “driving America apart,” he will respond positively.
“Our president should be about bringing us together, but I will be shocked if he makes any effort to do that tonight,” Doggett said. “I expect that with his prior speeches and his conduct that I’ll view, it as kind of a mixture of embarrassment that any president would do this sort of thing and alarm at the impact that he’s having on our families with affordability and our national security, by attacking our allies and befriending our enemies.”
Team USA’s men’s ice hockey team, which won gold on Sunday after defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime, is expected to attend the speech after President Trump invited them.
The women’s hockey team, which also won gold after defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime, declined President Trump’s invitation to the State of the Union. A spokesperson for the team said players had scheduling conflicts.