Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger to give Democratic response to Trump's State of the Union address

WASHINGTON — Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will deliver the Democratic response to President Donald Trump's State of the Union address next week, just months after resoundingly winning an office previously held by a Republican.

Spanberger, who served three terms in the U.S. House, became Virginia's first female governor earlier this year. She won by a double-digit margin, campaigning on affordability and lowering costs for families — a message Democrats are now elevating as they seek to win back the House and Senate in this year's midterm elections.

''Gov. Spanberger will lay out a clear path forward: lower everyday costs, protect healthcare, and defend the freedoms that define who we are as a nation,'' Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

Democrats try to counter Trump's large platform

Spanbberger's rebuttal will follow Trump's address to Congress on Tuesday, where he'll have a national platform to tout his record and shape the GOP's message — valuable airtime presidents often use to the fullest. Trump's first joint address of his second term last March stretched an hour and 40 minutes.

Spanberger will have far less time for rebuttal. Last year's Democratic response, delivered by Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, ran just over 10 minutes.

The brevity and lack of an audience have made the response to the State of the Union one of the most fraught assignments in politics. Republican Sen. Katie Britt's 2024 response to President Joe Biden in 2024 was lampooned on ''Saturday Night Live,'' for example, while now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio faced mockery for reaching for a water bottle when delivering the GOP response in 2013. Other responses have been quickly forgotten.

Some Democratic lawmakers are skipping Trump's address altogether and holding their own counterprogramming, including a ''People's State of the Union'' rally being held on the National Mall with members of the Senate and House.

''President Trump is a disgrace. He's easily the most corrupt President in American history by a long shot,'' Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., wrote on social media. ''I'm not attending his State of the Union to listen to him ramble and lie.''

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has urged his members to either sit in ''silent defiance'' during Trump's speech or stay away, wary of the disruptions that have become commonplace at recent presidential addresses.

Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas was removed from the House chamber during Trump's address to Congress last year when he stood and started responding to the president. Other Democrats displayed protest signs from their seats.

Spanberger seen as electoral success for Democrats

As a former CIA case officer, Spanberger has tied her political career to her public service and national security credentials. She also has pitched herself as a mother of daughters educated in Virginia's public schools and a Capitol Hill veteran who often worked across the aisle.

Since winning the election she has vowed to work with the president when they are aligned, but also has taken more pointed digs at the White House.

On the campaign trail last year, Spanberger spoke out against the White House's gutting of the civil service, an issue that hit particularly hard in Virginia, home to a large number of federal workers.

"Those who have devoted their lives to public service, you are worried about an administration that is gilding buildings while schools crumble, breaking the social safety net and sowing fear across our communities,'' Spanberger said at her inauguration. ''Betraying the values of who we are as Americans.''

Last year's record-breaking government shutdown also hit the state's sizable federal workforce, leaving many employees without pay for weeks.

___