Over a Dozen Lawmakers, Including Pelosi, to Skip Netanyahu’s Speech

Dozens of members of Congress, most of them Democrats, have announced that they will be skipping the speech of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before a joint session of Congress tonight. This will be Netanyahu’s fourth address before congress, which is more than any other world leader will have made, breaking the earlier record of three addresses set by Winston Churchill.

Vice President Kamala Harris will not preside over the joint session in her capacity as president of the Senate, as she will be campaigning in Indianapolis. She will be meeting with Netanyahu later in his trip. 

The former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will not be present for the speech, although she met with the families of hostages taken on October 7 this morning. “Speaker Pelosi will not be attending today’s Joint Meeting of Congress,” Ian Krager, Pelosi’s spokesman, announced in a statement.

Also absent will be Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Tim Kaine (D-VA). Numerous representatives, among them Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), and Jim Clyburn (D-SC). “When it comes to that joint session, I do not plan to attend it, because I’m going to treat him the same way he treated Barack Obama,” Clyburn commented.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), a libertarian, is the sole Republican to announce that he will not attend. “Today Congress will undertake political theater on behalf of the State Department” Massie said in a statement on X, later adding, “I don’t feel like being a prop so I won’t be attending.”