Trump’s first SOTU speech on Tuesday night will be at least one justice short. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will not be in attendance, opting instead to continue her speaking tour with a stop at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island.
Ginsburg declined to attend Trump’s first address to congress after his election. As a vocal critic of Trump, it could be inferred that Ginsburg is making a statement. Ginsburg attend all eight of President Obama’s addresses. However, it isn’t unheard of for a Supreme Court Justice to decline to attend a State of the Union address. Before his death in 2016, Justice Antonin Scalia hadn’t been at a SOTU since 1997.
The address will begin at 9 p.m. EST.