Two Democratic representatives from Georgia will not attend President Donald Trump's State of the Union next week.

The offices of Reps. John Lewis and Hank Johnson told The Hill that they will skip Tuesday's event.

Johnson tweeted that he would "rather be somewhere else."

"I have a problem with defiling the speaker's chair in the House of Representatives," Johnson told AJC . "I don't want to see it lowered, as is what happens when Donald Trump comes to our floor and starts talking about groups of people, particularly Latinos, and disparaging them as a people."

The State of the Union has been surrounded by controversy since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Trump she would not consider a resolution to authorize the annual address until the government reopened.

The speech was initially planned for Jan. 29, but was rescheduled for Feb. 5.

The Nation’s Capital: Shutdown, D.C. View All 29 Images

Democrats who are attending the address plan to send the president a message with their guests. New Jersey Democrat Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman invited Victorina Morales, an immigrant without legal status living in New Jersey who was fired from the Trump National Golf Club.

Rep. Jimmy Gomez, a California Democrat, is also inviting a former golf club employee. Sandra Diaz, who did not have legal status during her employment, is now a legal permanent resident of the United States.

According to The Washington Post , Rep. Jennifer Wexton, a Democrat from Virginia, has invited a Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center employee who was furloughed during the shutdown. Pennsylvania Democrat Sen. Robert Casey invited a Transportation Security Administration agent. TSA agents were required to work without pay during the shutdown.

Additional guests include advocates for more affordable healthcare and prescription drugs.

The House Democratic Women's Working Group has invited female lawmakers from both parties to wear white, a symbolic color of the women's suffrage movement.