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Biden accepts President Kevin McCarthy’s State of the Union invitation on February 7, after threatening to veto a series of GOP bills.
- WH press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed that President Joe Biden accepted McCarthy’s “gracious invitation” to address a joint session of Congress.
- Biden last delivered the State of the Union address on March 1, 2022.
- The president will be flanked by a Republican during the speech: President Kevin McCarthy and Vice President Kamala Harris.
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President Biden will deliver the annual State of the Union address to Congress on February 7 after accepting an invitation from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed at a news conference Friday that Biden had accepted McCarthy’s “gracious invitation” to address a joint session of Congress next month.
“The new year brings a new Congress, and with it the responsibility to work for a strong economy, a secure nation, a future built on freedom, and an accountable government,” McCarthy wrote in a letter to Biden.
“The American people sent us to Washington to deliver a new direction for the country, to find common ground and discuss their priorities,” McCarthy said. “Your feedback will inform our efforts to address the priorities of the American people.”
President Biden will deliver a State of the Union address to Congress on February 7 after accepting an invitation from President Kevin McCarthy. He is pictured above giving the address last year.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed in a press briefing on Friday that Biden had accepted McCarthy’s “gracious invitation” to address a joint session of Congress on February 7.
Biden last delivered a State of the Union address on March 1, 2022. The address will take place, as usual, in the lower chamber of the House of Representatives, where Republicans took control earlier in this month.
He will address the nation after threatening to veto a series of GOP-led bills that passed the House this week, including one to recover $72 billion from the IRS.
For the first time in his presidency, Biden will be flanked by a Republican: McCarthy and Vice President Kamala Harris sit at the president’s desk behind the president during his remarks.
The annual address, required by the US Constitution, gives Biden a chance to tout his legislative accomplishments and lay out his midterm goals in the run-up to 2024.
All eyes are on the president’s every move to see if he is fit to run again in 2024, as there have been rumors in Democratic circles that the president’s age may become an issue in the upcoming election.
Biden turned 80 in November and would be 82 when the next presidential term begins.
The speech will also come as the president’s handling of classified documents found at his home and at the office of a think tank is being investigated by special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Fresh from a trip to the border, Biden could use the speech to call on Congress to adopt bipartisan immigration reform.
He could also attack proposals by the Republican Party that would affect Medicare and Social Security in the name of cutting spending. Congress is ready to launch a contentious battle to raise the debt ceiling to prevent the nation’s debt default later this year.
A timeline of the events that led US Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint special counsel to oversee President Joe Biden’s classified documents drama.