Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will be giving the Democrats’ response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

Trump is expected to highlight his first year back in office during the joint session of Congress amid active negotiations on the Department of Homeland Security funding lapse and tensions with Iran on the rise.

“We are at a defining moment in our nation’s history. Virginians and Americans across the country are contending with rising costs, chaos in their communities, and a real fear of what each day might bring. Next week, I look forward to laying out what these Americans expect and deserve — leaders who are working hard to deliver for them,” Spanberger said in a Thursday statement.

Spanberger was elected to lead the commonwealth in November, defeating then-Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears by over 15% of the vote. When she first took office, she signed several Executive Orders reversing actions from her Republican predecessor, Glenn Youngkin, including scrapping the cooperation agreement between state authorities and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Virginia Democrats in the General Assembly have recently been in the hot seat over tax hike proposals, as well as an ongoing redistricting fight, The Daily Wire reported.

“Spanberger and Virginia Democrats ran a campaign pledging affordability and immediately introduced a slew of policies to raise taxes, increase energy prices, and make law-abiding residents less safe – these broken promises make her perfect representative for today’s Democrat party,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, told The Daily Wire in a statement.

“Every Democrat in Congress tried to pass a $4 trillion dollar tax hike and voted against the working and middle class tax cuts the American people are seeing right now in their refunds. Democrats all voted against securing the border and deporting criminal illegals. Democrats all voted against modernizing our military. Americans have benefitted from the commonsense policies Republicans have governed with, Spanberger couldn’t be further from that,” Jackson addded.

“Virginia Republicans introduced legislation to eliminate the car tax entirely. Democrats not only killed that bill, they killed a bill to just STUDY eliminating the car tax. They won’t even consider it,” the Virginia Senate GOP posted to X on Wednesday.

“Meanwhile, Fake Moderate Abigail Spanberger, who promised on the campaign trail to work with “any party” to abolish the car tax, has remained COMPLETELY SILENT! Just another piece of the Great Democrat Affordability Hoax,” the post continued.

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) will be giving the Spanish-language response, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) saying that he will play a key role in talking to “Spanish-speaking households across the nation.”

“The son of two Mexican immigrants and California’s first Latino U.S. Senator, Sen. Alex Padilla is a devoted public servant, extraordinary trailblazer and fierce fighter for Californians and the diverse community he represents,” Jeffries stated. “As Donald Trump, Kristi Noem and MAGA extremists have tried to silence the voices of our Latino brothers and sisters, Senator Alex Padilla has consistently fought back and proven Democrats will not bend the knee to this out-of-control administration.”

The announcement comes as some Democrats have made alternate plans for the evening, including a “People’s State of the Union” rally hosted by Meidas Touch and MoveOn on the National Mall, as Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) wrote on X earlier this week that “Trump is marching America towards fascism, and I refuse to normalize his shredding of our Constitution & democracy.”

State of the Union responses have been a tradition for decades. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) gave the Democratic response last year, and Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) gave the Republican response in 2024 during the last year of the Biden administration.