Plants rely on arsenal of defenses to combat numerous stresses. Salicylic acid (SA) is a crucial hormone in plant defense, yet its role in translational regulation is underexplored. We investigated the SA signaling through the stress sentinel protein kinase, GCN2 and its substrate, eIF2α, in Arabidopsis thaliana . We show that the GCN2 dependent eIF2α phosphorylation in response to SA is regulated by the photosynthetic state of the plant. Notably, GCN2 knockout mutant exhibits wild-type like growth under SA stress, suggesting limited role of the GCN2-eIF2α module in the management of physiological defects under SA stress.