Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., confirmed on Saturday who will accompany her to Tuesday's State of the Union address.
The 2020 presidential hopeful will be joined by a federal employee who was financially affected by the recent 35-day partial government shutdown, Harris tweeted.
“Trisha Pesiri-Dybvik was one of the more than 800,000 federal workers whose paychecks were withheld during the shutdown — and it happened while her family was still recovering from losing their home in the Thomas Fire,” Harris wrote, referencing a devastating California wildfire that started in December 2017. “I’m honored she will join me at the State of the Union.”
Earlier this week, with the shutdown's conclusion, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., invited President Trump to deliver the address in the House chamber — a week after its initial Jan. 29 date.
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The original plan for the speech was scrapped over the partial shutdown. That led to a contentious back-and-forth between Trump and the Democratic leader before the president announced a deal to re-open the government.
Trump signed a short-term spending bill on Jan. 25 to re-open the government, funding it through Feb. 15 while immigration and border security talks proceed.
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On the heels of the political conflict, Trump is reportedly aiming to use the ceremonial address to pitch a unifying vision for the nation and perhaps reset relations with Democrats. His designated theme is "Choosing Greatness," according to The Associated Press:
"I really think it's going to be a speech that's going to cover a lot of territory, but part of it's going to be unity," Trump told reporters this week.
Fox News’ Matt Richardson, Madeline Farber and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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