Follow live updates on Biden’s State of the Union Address.
President Biden will deliver the State of the Union address Thursday night at 9 p.m. before a joint session of Congress, laying out his agenda ahead of November’s presidential election.
Mr. Biden will seek to reassure strong-performing Americans as he navigates the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, a public unwilling to look favorably on the economy and voters worried about his age.
Here’s what you need to know.
Where can I watch?
The New York Times will broadcast the address on nytimes.com with live analysis by reporters. The speech will also be broadcast by major television networks and cable.
The White House will also stream the speech, accompanied by American Sign Language interpretation, at wh.gov/sotu. Mr. Biden is expected to speak for just over an hour.
Who will provide answers?
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Alabama, will give the answer to Republicans, laying out a counter agenda to the one presented by the Democratic president. Ms. Britt, 42, is the former chief of staff to her predecessor, Senator Richard Shelby. She was sworn in as Alabama’s first elected female senator last January and endorsed former President Donald J. Trump in December.
Monica De La Cruz, a freshman Republican from Texas, will deliver the Spanish-language address on behalf of her party, which has tried to make border security a central issue. Ms. De La Cruz is the first Republican and the first woman to represent her district, which includes a stretch of the border with Mexico along the Rio Grande Valley.
Progressive Democrats will also respond to Mr. Biden’s speech, which will be delivered this year by Nicholas O’Rourke, a pastor and member of the Philadelphia City Council. Mr O’Rourke’s speech will be the seventh response from the Working Families Party.
Who will attend?
The first lady and members of Congress traditionally invite guests to the address.
Jill Biden has invited 20 guests intended to highlight the president’s domestic and foreign policy positions and achievements, including the prime minister of Sweden, which joined NATO earlier Thursday. a Texas mother whose petition for an abortion was denied by the state courts. and a woman whose IVF treatments were halted by an Alabama state Supreme Court ruling last month.
With abortion access and women’s reproductive health national issues that continue to mobilize Democrats, lawmakers from across the party have invited several reproductive care providers and advocates. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia called out the first person born in the United States as a result of IVF, and Rep. Judy Chu of California called out the Indiana doctor who in 2022 performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim.
House Speaker Mike Johnson called the parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been held in Russia for nearly a year on espionage charges that his newspaper and the US government vehemently deny.
More than a dozen family members of current and former American hostages held in Gaza following the October 7 invasion of Israel will also be in attendance as invited lawmakers from both parties.
