Biden to provide State of the Union Feb. 7 earlier than full House, full home

WASHINGTON – President Biden will give his second State of the Union take care of subsequent month in what’s predicted to be the major such speech delivered earlier than a full-capacity chamber for the purpose that onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed Friday that Biden had accepted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s invitation to take care of a joint session of Congress Feb. 7.

“He [Biden] looks forward to speaking with Republicans, Democrats, and the country about how we can work together to continue building an economy that works from the bottom up and the middle out, keep boosting our competitiveness in the world, keep the American people safe, and bring the country together,” she talked about.

In his invitation to the president, McCarthy (R-Calif.), referenced the 2022 midterms, which observed Republicans take once more administration of the House after 4 years out of the bulk.

“The American people sent us to Washington to deliver a new direction for the country, to find common ground and to debate their priorities,” he wrote, later together with: “Your remarks will inform our efforts to address the priorities of the American people.”

Every president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has delivered State of the Union addresses specifically individual, usually in late January or early February. Biden’s speech shall be held on the second-latest date for a State of the Union take care of in stylish situations — behind solely his first, which befell on March 1, 2022.

Biden’s first State of the Union was held beneath House COVID mitigation pointers put in place by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). All 535 members of Congress had been allowed to attend, nonetheless they may not ship firm and had been required to placed on masks. In deference to the chamber’s social distancing requirements, lawmakers acquired seats that had been scattered all through the House floor and inside the viewing galleries — leaving the home half-full.

In April 2021, Biden delivered his first take care of to Congress earlier than a House chamber the place the functionality had been capped at 200, pretty than the normal 1,100 who would have been packed into the home for a presidential speech.