WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump will push lawmakers to provide paid family leave to all workers in his upcoming 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 that included 12 weeks of paid parental leave for federal workers _ an accomplishment 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 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. "What we want to see is Congress come together quickly around a bill that has broad support so that it can get to the president's desk as soon as possible."
Carrie Lukas, president of Independent Women's Forum, a group that works closely with the White House, credited the Trump administration with jump-starting the conversation on paid leave.
She was not, however, optimistic about the prospects for an immediate expansion of benefits for private sector employees. "With the election coming up, I don't think we can expect anything to happen on something like this, because it's too politically fraught," she said of the November elections.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. _ who was not invited to the White House summit in December _ told McClatchy in a statement on Friday that the White House has not, and is not, doing enough to make paid family and medical leave a reality for all workers.
"Working families need real, comprehensive paid family and medical leave right now _ not half measures from the White House. That means making sure families do not go broke because they need to take care of themselves, a loved one _ including a new child," she said.
DeLauro is a sponsor of the FAMILY Act, one of the few proposals the White House does not support.
Ivanka Trump told McClatchy last month she respects that DeLauro has "strong views on this legislation," but the White House adviser said she was only seeking to work with people who are "willing to move off talking points and towards a solution, a compromise."
DeLauro told McClatchy Friday that proposals the White House supports, including one that would allow parents to draw from their Social Security benefits, "would put us on the wrong path. And income support only for new parents is not enough."
"Working people deserve the time and the resources I was lucky enough to have as a Senate staffer over 30 years ago when I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer," she said. "Only my bipartisan legislation, the FAMILY Act, would build on that progress and ensure paid leave working families can count on."
Romina Boccia, director of the federal budget center at the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, also criticized legislation that has received the support of the White House.
"I think their heart is in the right place, but their policies are misguided," Boccia said. "There's no role for the federal government in providing any type of paid family leave entitlement to private sector workers. That should be up to employers and workers."
Boccia said Heritage would like to see Congress authorize universal savings accounts, or USAs, which would operate similarly to a 401(k) or an IRA, except employees would be able to withdraw money at any time without facing a penalty.
The proposed bank accounts are a preferred mechanism for Heritage for delivering assistance to families with new or adoptive children, rather than paid leave proposals under discussion in Congress, including those that are sponsored by Republicans.
In the State of the Union address, sources close to the White House anticipate that Trump will highlight the strength of the economy since he took office, the administration's efforts to promote protections for religious groups and institutions and his recent appearance at the March for Life in Washington. Last week, Trump became the first sitting president to attend the annual march that is organized by conservative groups advocating for the reversal of the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the likelihood that those issues would be included in the speech.
