Former NCAA athlete Riley Gaines, Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, and state-level Doge officials are just a few of the faces that Americans can get a glimpse into the US Capitol on Tuesday night.
Congress members spoke with Fox News Digital about their guests for their first speech to President Donald Trump's second term joint session.
R-Iowa Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks said he invited Gaines after attending a White House event where Trump signed an executive order aimed at restricting trans athletes from participating in school sports. Girls Sports was the best issue for Mirror Microphones during the 2024 house race.
Meanwhile, R-KY. A spokesman for Rep. Thomas Massey told Fox News Digital that it would bring Ross Ulbricht, founder of Darkweb Platform Silk Road.
Adjustment: Live Coverage of Trump's Speech Speech on Tuesday Night at Fox News
Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and women's sports advocate Riley Gaines are some of the attendees in Trump's joint speech to Congress. (X: @RealRossu/Getty Images)
His management of a site known for promoting human trafficking of firearms and drugs has resulted in him being arrested by the FBI and sentenced to double life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Ulbriccht was forgiven by Trump, who called him a victim of the weaponized government.
In another nod to previous Trump administration work, R-Iowa's Rep. Ashley Hinson is present in a speech along with her own Doge task force chair.
Emily Schmitt, who works as Chief Admin Officer and General Counsel for Sukup Grain Manufacturing Company, has been appointed to the role of Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds following Trump's own Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative led by Elon Musk.
Hinson himself is a member of the House Doge Caucus.
R-Minn. Guests of House Gop Maction Hip Tom Emmer include Buzz Schneider and Rob McClanahan, the American Hockey Hall of Fames. The Minnesota Native Americans won the gold medal, winning the 1980 US Olympic men's hockey team gold.
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Team USA players celebrate after beating the Soviet Union at the Olympic Field House at the Olympic Center in 1980. (Eric Schweikardt /Sports Illustrated by Getty Images)
Their victory over the Soviet Union that year had an impact on the sports film “Miracle on Ice.”
Guests invited by R-Texas Rep. Chip Roy and Main Street Caucus Chairman Dusty Johnson (Rs.D.) nodded to the support of Republican law enforcement, Fox News Digital learned.
Roy's guest is Lt. Col. Chris Olivares, a spokesman for the State of Public Safety of Texas.
Johnson brought in Mead County Sheriff Pat West, who solved a sex trafficking case involving a 13-year-old girl who was lured into a 33-year-old male sex offender, the lawmaker's office said.
The border is also the best issue for Republicans, reflected by R-Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst by inviting the father of Iowa native Sarah Root, who was killed by illegal immigrants. A clause known as “Sarah's Law” has made it the Rental Riley Act.
On the other side of the aisle, Democrats are using guest tickets to send messages against Trump's policies.
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Some Democrats are bringing people affected by Elon Musk's doge efforts. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Mark Warner of Virginia, and Rep. April McClain Delaney of Maryland, have brought in former federal workers who lost their jobs during Trump and Musk's doge house cleaning efforts.
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Warner's office told Fox News Digital that the senator will “bringe a park ranger who has been fired from the Fredericksburg National Battlefield.”
“She is a cancer survivor and currently does not have health insurance,” Warner's office said of his guest.
But not all Democrats are following the lawsuit. Senator John Ossoff of Georgia is present with Al Rippert, commander of Foreign Wars Veterans (VFW) from Stone Mountain.
