President Joe Biden will deliver the State of the Union address to the newly divided government on Feb. 7 after the new Republican speaker extended a formal invitation.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president has accepted Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s “kind invitation” to deliver the speech that evening. It will be Biden’s first address with Republicans in control of either chamber of Congress.
“The new year brings a new Congress, and with it, a responsibility to work towards an economy that is strong, a nation that is safe, a future that is built on freedom, and a government that is accountable,” McCarthy, R-Calif., wrote Biden in extending the invitation.
McCarthy, in both his letter and on social media, described a “solemn obligation” to invite the president to provide his update on the state of the country.
It will be the first time McCarthy will be on the dais behind the president and most likely alongside Vice President Kamala Harris for a joint session of Congress with Biden, ahead of what are sure to be difficult negotiations over the operations and funding of government.
Earlier Friday, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen warned that the “extraordinary measures” her department can deploy to delay exceeding the debt ceiling may not extend the timeline for Congress to act beyond early June.
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