Biden accepts GOP Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s State of the Union invitation on February 7

President Biden will deliver the annual State of the Union address before Congress on February 7th after accepting an invite from Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy. 

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed in a Friday news briefing that Biden had accepted McCarthy’s ‘kind invitation’ to address a joint session of Congress next month.  

‘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 held accountable,’ 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 to debate their priorities,’ McCarthy said. ‘Your remarks will inform our efforts to address the priorities of the American people.’

President Biden will deliver a State of the Union address before Congress on February 7th after accepting an invite from Speaker Kevin McCarthy. He is pictured above giving the address last year 

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed in a Friday news briefing that Biden had accepted McCarthy’s ‘kind 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 be held, as is custom, in the lower chamber of the House of Representatives, where Republicans took control at the start of this month. 

He will address the nation after threatening to veto a string of GOP-led bills that passed the House this week – including one to claw back $72 billion from the IRS.

For the first time of his presidency, Biden will be flanked by a Republican – McCarthy and Vice President Kamala Harris sit at the Speaker’s desk behind the president during his remarks. 

The yearly address, required by the U.S. Constitution, gives Biden a chance to tout his legislative accomplishments and lay out his goals midway through his term in the lead-up to 2024. 

All eyes are on the president’s every move to see whether he is fit to run again in 2024, as there have been rumblings in Democratic circles that the president’s age may become an issue in the next election. 

Biden turned 80 in November and would be 82 by the time the next presidential term started. 

The address will also come as the president’s handling of classified documents found in his home and think tank office is being investigated by a special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland. 

Fresh off a trip to the border, Biden could use the address to call on Congress to take up bipartisan immigration reform. 

He could also hit out at GOP proposals that would impact Medicare and Social Security in the name of cutting spending. Congress is set to tee up a contentious battle to raise the debt ceiling to avoid defaulting on the nation’s debt later this year.

A timeline of events leading to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a Special Counsel to oversee President Joe Biden’s classified documents drama