Biden will speak ‘directly to the American people’ in first Oval Office address as president

Biden will speak ‘directly to the American people’ during first primetime Oval Office address as president to celebrate avoiding ‘catastrophic’ bankruptcy as Fitch keeps US credit on ‘negative watch’ due to repeated ‘deadlocks’

  • Biden will speak from the Oval Office in prime time
  • He will applaud bipartisan debt agreement which he will sign two days before ‘X date’
  • Biden is expected to sign the deal on Saturday

President Joe Biden will deliver his first Oval Office address as president from behind the Resolute Desk as he attempts to hold back the bipartisan feat of avoiding a national debt default.

The speech will be a round of victory after the House and Senate on Thursday approved the budget deal Biden negotiated with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

It imposes fixed funding for the next fiscal year, with a 1 percent cut in the next, while expanding work requirements for food stamps — but it also achieves Biden’s main goal of avoiding default.

After a months-long period in which top Treasury officials and Wall Streeters warned of far-reaching consequences for the global economy, Biden will view avoiding that worst-case scenario as a victory. But his speech comes after credit rating agency Fitch Ratings announced it would keep the US on a “negative watch,” noting it evaded the deadline but faced “repeated political deadlocks.”

President Biden will speak in prime time on Friday to discuss a bipartisan budget deal that avoided a “catastrophic default,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

It comes after Biden was allowed to announce another positive jobs report as the economy added 339,999 jobs in May.

“The president wanted to make sure he was addressing the American people directly, and he will be speaking to the American people for the first time from the Oval Office behind the desk… during primetime hour, and so he just wanted to to make sure the American people understood the importance of getting this done,” she said.

“The bipartisan budget agreement protects our historic and hard-earned economic recovery and all the progress American workers have made over the past two years,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday.

She said legislators from both sides joined in to “avoid a catastrophic default and demonstrate once again that America is a nation that pays its bills and honors its obligations.”

“We’ve spent the last few weeks, the last few months talking about averting the catastrophic bankruptcy and how important it was for the president to do that. There is a gravitational force as you can all imagine at the moment,’ said Jean-Pierre.

It will be Biden’s first prime-time speech since speaking from the Blue Room balcony to announce that the US has launched an airstrike that killed Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

The speech comes hours after Biden fell while handing out diplomas to cadets at the Air Force Academy in Colorado.

President Joe Biden spoke during his speech about the bipartisan fiscal effort that kept the nation out of a 'catastrophic' possible bankruptcy

President Joe Biden spoke during his speech about the bipartisan fiscal effort that kept the nation out of a ‘catastrophic’ possible bankruptcy

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told his caucus that Republicans were able to achieve a rare cut in government spending while suspending the debt ceiling until January 2025

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told his caucus that Republicans were able to achieve a rare cut in government spending while suspending the debt ceiling until January 2025

It will be Biden's first prime-time address to the nation from the Oval Office as president

It will be Biden’s first prime-time address to the nation from the Oval Office as president

President Joe Biden is helped to his feet after a fall during the graduation ceremony at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.  He fell while handing out diplomas to cadets.  An advantage of the Oval Office location is that there is no room for many physical accidents

President Joe Biden is helped to his feet after a fall during the graduation ceremony at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado. He fell while handing out diplomas to cadets. An advantage of the Oval Office location is that there is no room for many physical accidents

The seated format, behind the Resolute Desk while surrounded by TV cameras and lighting, plus a small press contingent, prevents these kinds of accidents from happening.

It was exactly one year ago at another location that Biden spoke during prime time from yet another location in the White House. It was on the occasion of the gun attack on children and teachers at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas.

Biden’s celebration of the debt deal comes despite criticism from a faction of progressive lawmakers angry about the flat funding amounting to a cut. The deal passed the House 314 to 117 with 46 Democrats and 71 Republicans voting against.

It also includes controversial new job requirements, though many conservative House Republicans are outraged by other program changes that would exempt veterans and the homeless, making the changes almost a wash.