LEILA FADEL, HOST:
When President Trump returns to Capitol Hill tonight, the political climate will be very different from the last time he spoke to a joint session of Congress. Back then, in 2020, Democrats still controlled the House, and Trump faced pushback from Congress. Tonight, though, Trump can expect a celebratory reception from Republicans. They have a slim majority in both chambers of Congress as he lays out his agenda. Joining us now to discuss the address is NPR's congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales. Hi, Claudia.
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: So this is Trump's second term in office. He's a more emboldened president. Tell us what you expect today versus what we saw in his speech four years ago.
GRISALES: Right. This Congress started out at a very fast start, mirroring much of what the administration has been doing. A lot has changed since his last address five years ago, as you mentioned. He had been impeached for the first time a few weeks earlier, then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi punctuated the end of his remarks by tearing up his speech from the dais. And Republicans now control Washington. And their loyalty to the president has only grown as he dismantles sections of the federal government, installs aggressive policies to address illegal immigration and some changes that are harder for some of his own members to stomach, such as new tariffs that were installed overnight and the stoppage of military aid to Ukraine.
FADEL: And then, of course, there are also all these legal challenges related to some of these decisions. Now, this speech, I mean, Claudia, how consequential is it? Will it set the tone for Congress and its to-do list for the rest of the year?
GRISALES: It very much could. Republicans want to keep going at this very, very quick pace. As you remember, at the start of the year, they had passed the Laken Riley Act. This gave law enforcement authorities wider power to go after those here without legal status in connection with crimes - who are connected to crimes. And the Senate has gone through a flurry of confirmations of cabinet members for the Trump administration. Now Trump wants to put the squeeze on Republicans to move very quickly on getting a partisan bill out of Congress that would install another series of massive changes, from $4.5 trillion in tax cuts...
FADEL: Right.
GRISALES: ...It's an extension of a program installed during his first term - as well as a dramatic $2 trillion in cuts to federal spending that has some worried about Medicaid cuts. And before they can even get to all of that, they have to address a government shutdown deadline, which runs out next week. And they'll need bipartisan support, we're expecting, and both parties could be very far apart at the moment.
FADEL: OK, that's quite the list.
GRISALES: Yes (laughter).
FADEL: Now, you know, there are a lot - there are people who really support President Trump's policies and many who are very concerned. And Democrats have faced criticism that they're just not doing enough to push back against Trump. So what are we expecting from them tonight?
GRISALES: Right. We know the official response will come from Senator Elissa Slotkin. She is from Michigan, a state that Trump won in November - clearly a part of Democrats' strategy to reach into the sections of the country that they feel they can win back. But we'll also see Democrats in the chamber who will be bringing their own messages, whether they will be wearing coordinating colors - for example, the Democratic women will be wearing pink to illustrate a protest message to the president. And they'll have guests that include fired federal workers, former veterans. So you see Democrats have struggled in the past to get on the same page. Tonight will be a test if they can get on the same page and show that protest message to the president.
FADEL: NPR's Claudia Grisales. Thank you for your reporting, Claudia.
GRISALES: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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