Trump to push for paid leave on Tuesday in State of the Union speech
President Donald Trump will push lawmakers to provide paid family leave to all workers in his State of the Union address to Congress, two White House officials said Friday.
Trump will highlight his administration’s role in securing the passage of defense legislation that Congress approved in December and included 12 weeks of paid parental leave for federal workers — an accomplishment that the administration sees as paving the way for a private-sector program.
A White House official said the president’s anticipated Tuesday evening remarks will convey the sentiment, “we are making progress, so let’s keep moving forward. The federal government has set the example.”
Trump has mentioned his support for paid family leave in every joint address to Congress since taking office in 2017. On one occasion, he previewed paid leave as part of a future budget proposal, but typically he does not go further than offering his general support for congressional action.
He has repeatedly included paid-leave policies in his annual budgets to Congress, however, they have not advanced any further. Officials declined to say Friday what the president would seek in the fiscal year 2021 budget that he plans to submit to Congress in February.
The president’s daughter and senior adviser, Ivanka Trump, recently held a summit on paid family leave at the White House. President Trump spoke at the event and credited his call to action in last year’s State of the Union address for movement on the issue on Capitol Hill.
“It’s time to pass paid family leave and expand access to quality,” he said at the December event.
The administration is in favor of bipartisan legislation that would give families an advance of up to $5,000 on future child tax credits, but it has made clear that it would be willing to support another plan that has broad, bipartisan backing.
“We continue to be hopeful and continue to work with all sides of the aisle to get that done,” a second White House official said.