The State of the Union that isn’t

Welcome to Cockburn’s Diary, a new newsletter from The Spectator sent twice a week from the nation’s capital. Your intrepid correspondent will keep you informed about all the whispers circulating around town. Coming to your inboxes on Tuesdays and Fridays…

President Donald Trump is addressing a joint session of Congress tonight — but don’t you dare call it a State of the Union; that term is reserved for speeches given in non-inauguration years. The president is expected to tout successes from the first forty-three days of his second term, while some Democrats are expected to skip it —…

Welcome to Cockburn’s Diary, a new newsletter from The Spectator sent twice a week from the nation’s capital. Your intrepid correspondent will keep you informed about all the whispers circulating around town. Coming to your inboxes on Tuesdays and Fridays…

President Donald Trump is addressing a joint session of Congress tonight — but don’t you dare call it a State of the Union; that term is reserved for speeches given in non-inauguration years. The president is expected to tout successes from the first forty-three days of his second term, while some Democrats are expected to skip it — or to protest by holding up props like egg cartons to spotlight the high cost of groceries.

Democratic senator Elissa Slotkin is bringing Andrew Lennox as her guest; Lennox was recently fired from the VA and some are speculating that he may run for Congress next cycle.

Across the aisle, Congresswoman Ashley Hinson is taking Emily Schmitt, the head of the Iowa DoGE Task Force. Both women sported scissors pins to spotlight their focus on cutting wasteful spending.

Eden Yadegar, a Columbia University senior, has been invited as a guest of Congressman Tim Walberg, the chair of the Education and Workforce Committee. Yadegar told Cockburn that she’s here to spotlight the “utter failure in leadership from so many university leaders… if students are able to literally block others from attending class, our schools are failing.”

Pardon Derek Chauvin, says Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire is encouraging its audience to sign an open letter advocating for a presidential pardon for Derek Chauvin, the Minnesota police officer currently serving prison time for his role in the death of George Floyd. Shapiro characterizes Floyd’s death in May 2020 as “the inciting event for the BLM riots that caused $2 billion in property damage in cities across the United States and set America’s race relations on their worst footing in recent memory.”

In his letter, released today, Shapiro writes, “There was no accusation at trial that Derek Chauvin targeted George Floyd for his race.” Shapiro is echoing a point made by Douglas Murray in a May 2021 Spectator column, where he wrote, “From last year to this, no one has been able to produce evidence that Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd because Floyd was a black man. If they could, then they would have done so at the trial.”

Trump has signed dozens of executive orders in his two months in office — could Chauvin see freedom as a result of the president’s pen?

On our radar

ROOT CANAL A BlackRock-led group will acquire two ports either side of the Panama Canal in a deal worth $23 billion.

ERNST AND STUNG Iowa senator Joni Ernst, who sits on the Armed Services Committee, is under scrutiny following a ProPublica report about her “inappropriate” romantic relationship with the general who oversees lobbying for the Air Force.

LIKE, COMMENT, SUBSCRIBE Casey Anthony, who was acquitted of murder in a high-profile 2011 case, is launching a new career as, in her words, “a proponent for the LGBTQ community, for legal community, women’s rights.” She has started a Substack and a TikTok.

This town ain’t big enough

House Republicans are proposing a bold new strategy for keeping themselves accountable: accusing their dissenting constituents of being paid actors.

Following backlash over DoGE cutbacks from attendees at recent Republican town halls, the chair of the House GOP’s campaign arm Richard Hudson urged his colleagues to stop holding in-person town halls, Politico reports.

Speaker Mike Johnson said it would be wiser for House Republicans to consider hearing from their constituents through tele-town halls instead.

On Monday, President Trump referred to these “paid troublemakers” as part of a Democratic game which he is sure they will lose.

There are thought to have been increased threats to members of Congress since the start of Trump’s second term.