President Joe Biden is set to present a sober assessment of the country’s situation rather than roll out flashy policy proposals, seeking to allay pessimism and concerns about his own leadership.
His speech in front of a politically divided Congress comes at a time when the nation is struggling to make sense of the complex cross-currents at home and abroad – economic uncertainty, an exhausting war in Ukraine, with China among them The rising tension — and potentially Biden’s fitness — shapes up. re-election bid
The president will take the floor of the House at a time when just a quarter of American adults say things are headed in the right direction in the country, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Nearly three quarters say things are on the wrong track. And most Democrats do not want Biden to seek another term.
Aides say he will confront those feelings, while at the same time trying to avoid seeming insensitive to Americans’ concerns.
Brian Dees, director of the National Economic Council, said that while Biden would “acknowledge and meet the American people where they are,” his “economic concern is genuine.”
“I think the basic message is: We have more progress to make, but people should feel optimism,” he said.
Luke Nichter, a presidential historian at Chapman University, said the closest Mr. Biden has to his current situation may be the 1960s, when global uncertainty was met with domestic unrest. He has an opportunity to be a “calm presence” for the country, Biden said.
“Usually we’re looking for an agenda: ‘Here’s what he plans to do.’ I don’t know that that’s really realistic,” Mr. Nichter said. “I think Americans’ expectations of what Congress is actually going to accomplish are way too low. And so I think right now, the sentiment and the tone, and helping Americans feel better about their circumstances, I think is going to go a long way.
The setting of Mr Biden’s speech will look markedly different than a year ago, when it was Democratic stalwart Nancy Pelosi who sat behind him as House speaker. He has been replaced by Republican Kevin McCarthy, and it is unclear what kind of reception the jittery Republicans in the chamber will give to the Democratic president.
Mr McCarthy vowed to be “respectful” during Monday’s address and instead asked Biden to refrain from using the phrase “extreme mega Republican”, which the president has deployed on the campaign trail in 2022.
Mr McCarthy told reporters, “I will not tear up speeches, I will not play games,” a reference to Ms Pelosi’s dramatic action after President Donald Trump’s final State of the Union address.
Arkansas Gov., who gained a national profile as Mr. Trump’s press secretary. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was to give a Republican response to Biden’s speech.
Now with COVID-19 restrictions lifted, the White House and legislators from both parties invited guests designed to deliver a domestic political message with their presence in the House chamber. The parents of Tyree Nichols, who was severely beaten by police officers in Memphis and later died, are among those expected to sit with First Lady Jill Biden. Other Biden guests include rock star/humanitarian Bono and the 26-year-old man who disarmed a gunman during a shooting last month in Monterey Park, California.
Mr Biden is turning his sights after spending his first two years pushing through key bills such as a bipartisan infrastructure package, legislation to boost high-tech manufacturing and climate measures. With Republicans now in control of the House, Mr. Biden is turning his attention to implementing those big pieces of legislation and making sure voters give him credit for reform.
The switch from fresh initiatives is largely out of necessity. Mr. Biden faces a newly empowered GOP that is itching to undo many of his accomplishments and is vowing to pursue a multitude of investigations — including into his home and former office as vice president. Includes viewing recent searches of classified documents by time.
At the same time, Mr. Biden will need to find a way to make it work to keep the government funded by raising the federal debt ceiling until this summer. Biden has insisted that he will not negotiate on meeting the nation’s debt obligations; Republicans have been equally adamant that Biden should make spending concessions.
On the eve of the president’s address, Mr. McCarthy challenged Mr. Biden to come to the negotiating table with House Republicans to reduce spending as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling.
While largely bipartisanship is expected to be low, Mr. Biden was to restate his 2022 appeal to Congress on the back of his “unity agenda” of action to fight the opioid epidemic, mental health, veterans’ health and cancer . He was to announce new executive initiatives and get lawmakers to support new measures to fund cancer research, address housing needs and support suicide among veterans, increase access to mental health care, and move forward on deadly trafficking in fentanyl. Had to call to work for.
The White House said the president would call for extending the new $35 per month price cap on insulin for people on Medicare to everyone in the country. He would also push Congress to quadruple the one percent tax on corporate share buybacks that was passed last year in the Democrats’ climate and health care bill, known as the Inflation Reduction Act.
The speech comes days after Mr. Biden ordered the military to shoot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that was speeding across the country, captivating the nation and a reminder of strained relations between the two global powers. Used to get
Last year’s address came just days after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine and many in the West doubted Kyiv’s ability to withstand an onslaught. Over the past year, the US and other allies have sent tens of billions of dollars in military and economic aid to strengthen Ukraine’s security. Now, Biden must make the case for maintaining that alliance — both at home and abroad — as the war rages on.
“The President would really just like to reinforce what a significant accomplishment has already been made and then to reinforce how much more remains to be done, how we are committed to doing it, and how we are working with the US Congress on a bipartisan basis. How about asking the US to join us in doing that work,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday.
While COVID-19 eases at home, Mr. Biden will turn to other national ills, including the deadly opioid epidemic, gun violence and police abuse. A White House fact sheet prior to the speech linked police reform with reducing violence, suggesting that giving police better training tools could result in less crime nationwide.
The president spent most of the weekend on Monday reviewing drafts of the speech with aides at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.
Senior White House adviser Anita Dunn will preview the broad themes of Biden’s address to Democratic lawmakers throughout the day on Tuesday, beginning with a breakfast with House Democrats on Capitol Hill.
Mr. McCarthy called on Mr. Biden to embrace the Republican effort to steer the country’s finances toward a balanced budget, which would require deep and politically unpopular cuts to federal spending, which Mr. Biden and the Democrats have called for. strongly opposed.
“We must move toward a balanced budget and insist on real accountability for every dollar we spend,” McCarthy said.
He insisted cuts to Medicare and Social Security, popular health and retirement programs primarily for older Americans, were “off the table” in any budget talks. The GOP leader also said “defaulting on our debt is not an option.”
The White House has insisted that Republicans cannot be trusted to protect programs and blasted Republicans for “actively threatening to throw our economy into a tailspin with a default” by imposing conditions on the debt ceiling. Did.