House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a letter on Thursday inviting President Donald Trump to deliver the annual State of the Union address later this month.
The California Democrat released the letter just hours after her election and swearing-in as speaker on the first day of the new Congress.
"In the spirit of our Constitution, I invite you to deliver your State of the Union address before a Joint Session of Congress on Tuesday, January 29, 2019 in the House Chamber," the letter read.
The annual speech is traditionally delivered by the president before a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the invitation of the speaker.
Pelosi's formal invitation to Trump at the beginning of her new tenure as speaker came as she and other congressional Democrats remained at an impasse with the President over his proposed border wall with Mexico. At the time of the letter's release, the partial government shutdown resulting from the impasse was nearly two weeks long.
