By Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has made border security a cornerstone issue of his tenure in the House of Representatives, a theme he’s continuing through President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night.
Fox News Digital has learned that Johnson’s partial list of guests to the prime-time speech will include Tom Homan, the former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, who Trump has tapped to serve as his border czar.
Johnson also invited Olivia Hayes, a young widow from his district who lives in Kinder, Louisiana. Her husband, Wesley Hayes, was killed by an illegal immigrant in a drunken-driving incident, the speaker’s office said.
On another Republican priority front, Commonwealth LNG Chair Ben Dell will also be one of Johnson’s guests on Tuesday night.
The Commonwealth LNG project was the first major beneficiary of the Trump administration’s reversal of former President Joe Biden’s pause on new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export permits. Energy has been a top issue for Republicans, particularly in resource-rich areas like Louisiana.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright last month announced the permit for the project, which is also in Johnson’s home state of Louisiana.
Wright said at the time that it was ‘one of many steps that DOE will be taking to assure our future as a reliable energy supplier to the world and resume regular order to our regulatory responsibilities over natural gas exports.’
In a nod to U.S. ties to Israel, Johnson is also bringing Noa Argamani, who was taken hostage by Hamas after the terror group’s brutal Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
His guests will also include members of conservative media. Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh, both of the Daily Wire, are expected to attend as Johnson’s guests.
Johnson is expected to sit on the dais behind Trump on Tuesday night, the speaker of the House’s traditional position, beside the vice president during the president’s big annual speech.
Because Trump has not been president for the entire past year, the speech is not called a ‘State of the Union’ but rather a presidential address.