Perry says Republicans should cancel Biden State of the Union address over border crisis

Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry is encouraged his House Republican colleagues to pull their invitation for President Joe Biden to deliver a State of the Union address next month on the chamber floor, arguing he will likely spout “propaganda” about the border crisis. 

Perry said Republicans should increase their pressure on the Biden administration over the crisis on the country’s southern border, where a record number of migrants have crossed during his first term, by using every bit of leverage they can.

The president "comes at the invitation of Congress, and Republicans are in control of the House,” Perry told Fox Business on Monday. “There’s no reason that we need to invite him to get more propaganda and actually blame the American people for the crisis he’s caused.”

The president not give his annual report to Capitol Hill would be a break in precedent but is allowed under the U.S. Constitution, which merely states a president must give Congress information of the State of the Union “from time to time” and recommend measures that he believes are “necessary and expedient.”

Perry's effort follows Republicans in both chambers rejecting bipartisan legislation that would have increased the amount of asylum officers and border patrol agents at the southern border, along with other changes to the immigration process.

Perry, who previously served as a general with the National Guard, has criticized Biden in the past as not being “mentally competent” enough to be the commander in chief.

He is not the first lawmaker to call for Biden’s speech to be canceled. Iowa GOP Sen. Joni Ernst said Biden should not give his speech unless he has a full spending plan in place.

“If the president is going to be allowed the opportunity to address Congress and the entire nation, he should actually have a plan in place,” Ernst said. “At a time when Americans are facing skyrocketing inflation and the world is on fire, we deserve more than just empty rhetoric.”

Biden is expected to deliver his State of the Union address on March 7.