More than three-dozen Democratic lawmakers followed through on their pledge not to attend the State of the Union on Tuesday night.
There were dozens of empty seats in the Congressional chamber, as many lawmakers said they were boycotting the speech in opposition to President Donald Trump’s policies.
Among the dozens of lawmakers not attending will be a contingent of Illinois members of Congress, including Sen. Tammy Duckworth.
Reps. Sean Casten, Eric Sorensen, Jan Schakowsky, Delia Ramirez and Mike Quigley all had announced they would not attend.
Ramirez was among the representatives who are expected to speak at an event hosted by MoveOn.org, along with Sens. Ed Markey, Ruben Gallego, Chris Murphy and Adam Schiff.
Reps. Pramila Jayapal, John Larson, Greg Casar and several others also did not attend the speech.
In addition to lawmakers, there were only four of the nine Supreme Court justices in attendance for the speech, as Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan, and Amy Coney Barrett in the chamber.
Most of Trump’s Cabinet was in attendance, though at least one member will stay behind as the “designated survivor,” according to federal policy.
