Gov. Phil Scott announced Tuesday morning that he was heading to Washington, D.C., this week to meet with other governors and President Donald Trump.
But soon after, Vermont’s Republican leader looked poised to possibly reverse course, with his office saying Scott was considering staying home.
This morning, Scott’s office said he would attend the National Governors Association conference because it appeared that all members — regardless of party — were invited. Last week, only GOP governors were invited to the event, and Scott said he didn’t plan on attending if only Republicans were invited to the historically bipartisan event.
“This was a decision he made after the meeting invitation was extended to all Governors, which is long-standing tradition of the NGA winter meeting, and he’s attended under both President Trump in his first term as well as President Biden,” Amanda Wheeler, Scott’s press secretary, wrote in an email to VTDigger on Tuesday morning.
Then, about half an hour later, she said Scott might be changing course.
“We’re learning new information and now it’s unclear if the Governor will be attending,” Wheeler said.
Scott will only attend the event if it’s a bipartisan meeting and no Democratic governors are excluded, she said. “There’s been a lot of back and forth with respect to who is and is not invited,” Wheeler said.
Last week, the National Governors Association said it would no longer host the conference after only Republican governors were invited to the event. Eighteen Democratic governors said they would boycott the association’s annual dinner at the White House, according to the Associated Press.
The association then made an about face and said the conference was back on — and all of its members were invited.
But in a Truth Social post, Trump wrote that all governors were invited except for Democratic governors Wes Moore of Maryland and Jared Polis of Colorado.
On Tuesday, a press release from Scott’s office simply stated: “Governor Phil Scott will attend the National Governors Association Winter meeting in Washington, D.C. this week.”
“In addition to meetings with other governors and diplomats, he will also join fellow governors for a meeting with President Trump and other officials at the White House on Friday,” the statement said.
The association’s conference is set to run Thursday through Saturday, and the dinner with the president is scheduled to take place Friday.
“Vermonters know Governor Scott and know exactly where he stands in terms of his support of the President which has not changed,” Wheeler told VTDigger.
