The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., is pictured on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
President Donald Trump is slated to deliver the first address of his second term to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday evening.
Pennsylvanians will be well-represented at the speech by members of the state’s congressional delegation and a wide range of guests.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump have invited several guests, including Helen, Allyson, and Kaylee Comperatore, the widow and daughters of Corey Comperatore, the firefighter killed by a gunman during a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in July. Trump was also injured in the shooting.
Marc Fogel, the American history teacher released in February after four years in a Russian prison, and his mother Malphine Fogel are also among the Trumps’ guests. Malphine Fogel and other family members had pressured lawmakers to ensure Marc Fogel’s return to the United States after he was sentenced to 14 years in a labor camp for possession of medical marijuana.
Most Democrats in the state’s congressional delegation told the Capital-Star they will attend Trump’s address, while U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans (D-3rd District) is one of at least several in his party boycotting the speech.
U.S. Reps. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-5th District) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-6th District) are both bringing guests that were recently fired as a result of the Trump administration’s recent cuts to the federal government via the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Scanlon’s guest is Jay “Smitty” Smith, a U.S. Navy veteran who was recently fired from the IRS’s Taxpayer Advocate Service, her office said. Houlahan’s guest will be Jessica Fair, a historical architect who was an employee of the National Park Service at Valley Forge National Historic Park, which is located in her district.
U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-4th District) will be joined by Peg Eitl of Skippack, a health care advocate whose adult child, Joe, was born with Down syndrome and a complex congenital heart defect. In 2020, Joe Eitl became the first person with Down syndrome to receive a combined heart and liver transplant. Dean’s office said the surgery was made possible by Medicare and support from his family.
Evans told the Capital-Star that he would not attend Trump’s speech, saying he “hasn’t earned the honor of his presence.” Evans cited “illegal or legally questionable actions like mass firings and refusing to deliver federal funding already appropriated by law, and capped by Friday’s disgusting attack on Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.”
Evans said he “respects other members’ individual decisions” and told the Capital-Star that he’ll have a virtual guest, Katherine Roberson, of Northwest Philadelphia, who is “deeply concerned about how proposed Medicaid cuts would affect her daughter.”
Evans also added that he thinks it “might even be time to go back to when the State of the Union was delivered as a document, rather than a speech to Congress.”
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee (D-12th) told the Capital-Star that she will attend the speech, but will not bring a guest.
“I’ve spent the past few weeks standing alongside my constituents, hearing directly from those harmed by this administration – folks with disabilities who rely on Medicaid, cancer researchers struggling with the NIH (National Institutes of Health) funding freeze, fired federal workers who lost their jobs simply for doing them,” Lee said in a statement. “Instead of subjecting them to Trump’s lies and empty rhetoric tonight, I’m focused on fighting for them every single day.”
U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-2nd District) confirmed that he would attend, but did not say if he had invited a guest. U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Allegheny) also said he will attend the speech, but his guest canceled due to scheduling difficulties.
Several guests of Republican lawmakers have close ties to law enforcement.
U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) will be joined by Blair County Sheriff Jim Ott, an advocate for addressing the fentanyl crisis. Ott’s son died in 2020 as a result of fentanyl. McCormick’s office said that Ott “supports Senator McCormick and President Trump’s commitment to closing the U.S. borders and taking bold action to put an end to this fentanyl crisis.”
U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-7th District) invited Michael Wargo, who along with his wife, Sarah, are Gold Star parents from Carbon County. Their son died by suicide after struggling with PTSD. Carbon County has the highest rate of veteran suicide of any county in Pennsylvania, per Mackenzie’s office.
U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-8th District) will be joined by Don Williams, the father of Officer Eric Williams who was murdered by an inmate at USP Canaan in 2013. Bresnahan wrote in a social media post “Eric’s Law,” named for the officer, will “ensure the safety of those who serve our country in the line of duty.”
U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser (R-9th District) will be joined by Brian Kilmeade, a Fox News host. U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Butler) said he’ll be joined by a Butler County business owner.
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