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Tag: State of the Union Address

  • China says it was smeared in Biden State of the Union speech

    China says it was smeared in Biden State of the Union speech

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    BEIJING (AP) — China says it was smeared in U.S. President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address that repeatedly mentioned competition between the two countries.

    China does not fear competing with the U.S. but is “opposed to defining the entire China-U.S. relationship in terms of competition,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily briefing Wednesday.

    “It is not the practice of a responsible country to smear a country or restrict the country’s legitimate development rights under the excuse of competition, even at the expense of disrupting the global industrial and supply chain,” Mao said.

    China will defend its interests and the U.S. should work with it to “promote the return of bilateral relations to a track of sound and stable development,” she said.

    Mao’s comments came against a background of raging disputes over trade, Taiwan, human rights and access to advanced technologies.

    Biden mentioned China and its leader, Xi Jinping, at least seven times in his address Tuesday night, focusing mainly on how the U.S. was increasingly prepared to compete with Beijing while also seeking to avoid conflict.

    “I’ve made clear with President Xi that we seek competition, not conflict,” Biden said.

    “I will make no apologies that we are investing to make America strong. Investing in American innovation, in industries that will define the future, and that China’s government is intent on dominating,” he said.

    Biden said his administration is “committed to work with China where it can advance American interests and benefit the world.”

    However, he also warned that “if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country,” a pointed reference to the shooting down on Saturday of a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had traversed the continental United States.

    China says the balloon was an unmanned civilian airship used for meteorological research and has strongly protested the U.S. action while threatening unspecified countermeasures.

    The incident prompted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a trip to China this week that had stirred hopes of reversing the continued deterioration of relations between Beijing and Washington.

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  • GOP on GOP: Romney scolds Santos, ‘You don’t belong here’

    GOP on GOP: Romney scolds Santos, ‘You don’t belong here’

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Rep. George Santos positioned himself in a prime location for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address — an uncomfortably prominent place for the embattled new lawmaker who faces multiple investigations and has acknowledged embellishing and even lying about his life story.

    Santos’ presence at the center aisle to see and be seen with the arrivals was met with a stern rebuke from a fellow Republican, Sen. Mitt Romney.

    More on the State of the Union

    “You don’t belong here,” the Utah Republican scolded Santos as he entered the House chamber and spotted the New York Republican on the aisle.

    Words were exchanged, it was reported, though Romney said later he did not hear it all.

    “He shouldn’t be in Congress, and they are going to go through the process and hopefully get him out,” Romney told reporters afterward, his office confirmed. “But he shouldn’t be there, and if he had any shame at all he wouldn’t be there.”

    The exchange was an unusual lashing by the more reserved Romney, the Republican Party’s presidential nominee in 2012, but shows the discomfort Santos is bringing among traditional conservatives critical of the rightward drift of more extremist elements of the GOP.

    Santos retorted with a tweet: “Hey @MittRomney just a reminder that you will NEVER be PRESIDENT!”

    The arrival of Santos has been a problem for the Republicans since he won a New York congressional seat, which helped to deliver the party a slim majority, once his personal story began to unravel.

    Santos has acknowledged fabricating, and at times lying, about parts of his education, work experience and even his family’s own religion and history.

    House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met privately with the congressman last week amid a swirl of potential investigations on and off Capitol Hill. Santos announced he would step aside from his committee assignments ahead of an expected House Ethics Committee probe.

    McCarthy said Tuesday the situation with Santos would work its way through the House Ethics Committee. Fellow New York Republicans have called for Santos to resign from Congress. Santos faces other investigations beyond Congress.

    Other Republicans heard the exchange and one Republican lawmaker who was told about it said there was widespread displeasure that Santos had situated himself in such a prominent spot. The lawmaker requested anonymity to discuss what others said about the subject.

    The center aisle basically gave Santos the chance to seize the limelight by greeting the president and other prominent officials as they entered the House chamber and made their way down the aisle.

    As senators entered the House in a line, it was then that Romney spotted Santos and delivered his message.

    “I didn’t expect that he’d be standing there, trying to shake hands with every senator and the president of the United States,” Romney told reporters later.

    Romney said that given the investigations, Santos “should be sitting the back row and staying quiet, instead of parading in front of the president and people coming into the room.”

    But Santos, as is often the case, had his moment, becoming for a time the face of the GOP.

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  • Analysis: Biden confronts doubters with State of the Union

    Analysis: Biden confronts doubters with State of the Union

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden stepped to the rostrum for his State of the Union address at what should be a high point of his presidency. He’s repeatedly beaten the odds with a string of legislative accomplishments and a historically strong midterm election where Democrats held the line against Republicans. His steadfast support for Ukraine has won praise. The cloud of the pandemic has lifted.

    But on Tuesday night, he found himself facing a problem that has shadowed him for years — doubt.

    More on the State of the Union

    Polls show a majority of Americans are largely unaware of his successes and don’t approve of his job performance. Even Democrats question whether he should run for reelection amid concerns about his age.

    It all added up to a particularly high-stakes moment for Biden, providing him with his last, best opportunity to make his case for why he deserves a second term before a formal campaign announcement.

    He left no doubt that he believes he has more work to do as president. Addressing Republicans who recently won control of the House, Biden said “the people sent us a clear message” about the need to find common ground.

    “We’ve been sent here to finish the job,” he said.

    Although Biden frequently used the language of cooperation, he slipped in a few digs at the other party, such as when he talked about Republicans who voted against his infrastructure law but still celebrate the money being used in their districts.

    “Don’t worry,” he said. “I promised to be the president for all Americans. We’ll fund these projects. And I’ll see you at the groundbreaking!”

    At another point, Biden accused Republicans of trying to curtail Social Security and Medicare benefits for older Americans, provoking shouts of “liar” from his critics.

    Veering from the text of his speech, Biden responded with a grin. “Anybody who doubts it, contact my office, I’ll give you a copy of the proposal.” It was a thrust and parry more likely to be found on a debate stage than in a State of the Union.

    Now it’s just a matter of waiting for Biden to reveal his decision on whether he’ll run again. He’s promised an announcement early this year.

    “Until the moment when he makes that pronouncement, that’s still that question that hangs over every word that he utters,” said Patrick Gaspard, a former White House political director and top official at the Democratic National Committee.

    Gaspard, who is currently president of the liberal Center for American Progress, said the State of the Union “is often considered the opening bid in an argument for reelection. And in this situation, it’s certainly the case.”

    American presidents almost never forgo a shot at a second term. The last one was Lyndon Johnson, who did not seek reelection in 1968 after his presidency became unmoored by the Vietnam War.

    But there’s also never been a president as old as Biden. He’s 80, and would be 86 at the end of a second term. He first ran for the White House in 1988.

    “I’m not new to this place,” Biden acknowledged in his speech. “I stand here tonight having served as long as about any one of you has ever served here.”

    Lyndsay Chervinsky, a presidential historian, said Biden’s age is “the X factor” that differentiates him from his predecessors. Even when other presidents faced low approval ratings during their first term, “no one was suggesting that they not run.”

    “If he was ten years younger, none of these conversations would be happening,” she said.

    Biden gave a glimpse of his campaign pitch on Friday in Philadelphia, when he spoke at a Democratic National Committee meeting. He rattled off legislative accomplishments, some of which were achieved after they were left for dead in Congress, and blasted Republicans as “extremists,” even calling them “nuts” at one point.

    “Let me ask you a simple question. Are you with me?” he said to the cheering crowd, which responded by chanting, “Four more years!”

    Political appearances rarely draw the same attention as the State of the Union. Last year, 38 million people tuned in, compared to nearly 100 million who watched the Super Bowl.

    Presidential historian Michael Beschloss said the challenge is to find the right way to harness that fleeting focus.

    “The speech will probably be remembered for two or three lines,” he said. “He has to decide which he wants those to be.“

    Judging by the text, Biden wants that line to be “finish the job,” a phrase included no less than a dozen times. Whether it’s increasing taxes on billionaires, preventing police brutality or lowering insulin costs, Biden said he wants to “finish the job.”

    It may not have been a campaign announcement, but it’s an implicit request for voters to stick with him.

    Biden plans to travel to Wisconsin on Wednesday and Florida on Thursday to continue pushing his agenda, part of an administration-wide plan for top officials to fan out across the country this week.

    After a Democratic midterm showing that was strong by historical averages in a president’s first term, Biden has successfully tamped down handwringing within his party over whether he should seek another term. No primary opponent has emerged.

    And he has a record to build upon. He’s also secured investments in infrastructure, computer chip manufacturing and financial incentives to encourage Americans to adopt cleaner technologies for fighting climate change.

    “At the end of the day, you can’t argue with the extraordinary accomplishments, more than almost any other modern president, that President Biden has achieved, again, under the toughest of circumstances,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a Sunday interview with CNN’s “State of the Union.”

    However, Biden still faces skepticism from the country at large.

    Only 37% of Democrats say they want Biden to seek a second term, down from 52% before the midterm elections in November, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

    Victories in Congress to the contrary, many Americans don’t see him making progress either.

    A new Washington Post-ABC News poll said 36% of Americans believe Biden has accomplished “a great deal” or “a good amount” since taking office, while 62% said he’s done “not very much” or “little or nothing.”

    Cedric Richmond, a former top White House official who is now a senior adviser to the Democratic National Committee, says the numbers don’t concern him.

    “When you hit a campaign, and you’re going to spend the kind of money that campaigns cost now, people will get inundated” with reminders of changes that Biden has made during his administration, he said.

    Right now, Richmond said, “people are more focused on their lives than political commentary and polls and all of those things.”

    Now the question is whether Biden’s big speech shifted voters’ focus to him — and got them to see the country his same way.

    ___

    EDITORS: Chris Megerian covers the White House for The Associated Press.

    ___

    Follow AP’s coverage of the State of the Union address at: https://apnews.com/hub/state-of-the-union-address

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  • Biden speech takeaways: More conciliation than conflict

    Biden speech takeaways: More conciliation than conflict

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — The State of the Union address tends to have a ritual rhythm. Grand entrance. Applause. Platitudes. Policies. Appeals for Unity, real or imagined.

    President Joe Biden checked those boxes, and a few more, during his speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. In part, he seemed to be laying the foundation to run for a second term. “We’ve been sent here to finish the job,” he said.

    More on the State of the Union

    Biden made calls for unity and tried to emphasize conciliation over conflict, easier to do in this rarefied setting, seemingly impossible to sustain in such divided times.

    Takeaways from the prime-time address:

    MORE CONCILIATION THAN CONFLICT

    Biden’s speech almost defiantly ignored the bitter divisions between Republicans and Democrats and his own low standing with the public.

    He returned repeatedly to common ground, making the case that both parties can back U.S. factories, new businesses being formed and the funding of 20,000 infrastructure projects. When Biden hit each of these themes, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., politely clapped. He even stood to applaud at one point.

    It’s a sign that Democrats and Republicans can at least agree to a shared set of goals, even if they have very different views of how to get there.

    In the midterm election campaign, Biden warned of Republican extremists. On Tuesday night, he portrayed them as partners in governance during the first two years of his presidency.

    But then came a Biden comment that generated boos and hoots from Republicans: Biden said some in the GOP were bent on cutting Social Security and Medicare.

    That sparked a raucous back and forth that seemed more in line with the reality of the actual relationship between the parties.

    ___

    REGULAR JOE

    Biden used the speech to highlight his focus on the common man, calling out billionaires who pay lower tax rates than does the middle class, and airlines that treat their passengers like “suckers.”

    It amounted to a dare to Republican lawmakers who increasingly claim to represent blue-collar workers.

    “No billionaire should pay a lower tax rate than a school teacher or a firefighter,” Biden said in one of the bigger applause lines of his speech.

    The president brought back an idea from last year to put a minimum tax on billionaires so they don’t pay a lower rate than many middle-class households. Biden had pitched a 20% tax on the income and unrealized financial gains of households worth $100 million or more. The administration estimated it would generate $360 billion over 10 years. That would in theory help fund some priorities and possibly reduce the deficit.

    But Biden’s tax plan might be more about scoring political points. He couldn’t get it past Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., in the Senate last year.

    The president was straightforward in saying he would stop airlines from charging fees in order to sit families together, saying that children were being treated like luggage. He wants to ban hidden resort fees charged by hotels and penalties charged by cell service providers.

    “Americans are tired of being played for suckers,” Biden said.

    ___

    PASSING OVER CHINA BALLOON

    Biden had been on a winning streak countering China, America’s rising military and economic competitor.

    Then Beijing brazenly floated a spy balloon across the United States, an embarrassing episode for Biden that culminated last weekend with him ordering the Pentagon to shoot the craft out of the sky over the Atlantic Ocean.

    The incident has dominated headlines, with some Republicans arguing that it demonstrates Biden has been wobbly on Beijing.

    Biden briefly addressed the incident directly: “As we made clear last week, if China’s threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did.”

    Lost in the noise is the administration’s increasingly aggressive efforts to push back against China, through agreements with the Philippines and Japan to adjust or expand the U.S. military presence in those countries.

    The balloon drama overshadowed all of that.

    ___

    STANDING WITH UKRAINE

    Last year’s State of the Union was dramatically shaped by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which started days before the address.

    At that moment, the chances of Ukraine staying in the fight with a more formidable Russian military seemed highly unlikely. Nearly a year later, Ukraine is firmly in the fight.

    Biden took a moment to pay tribute to Ukraine, addressing one of his guests, Ambassador Oksana Markarova, as representing “not just her nation but the courage of her people.”

    He also applauded Congress for giving the Ukrainian what it needed to face Russia’s brutal aggression; the United States has already committed nearly $30 billion in security assistance since the start of the war.

    In private, administration officials have made clear to Ukrainian officials that Congress’ patience with the cost of the war will have its limits. But with Tuesday’s address, Biden offered an optimistic outlook about the prospects of long-term American support.

    “Ambassador, America is united in our support for your country,” Biden said looking toward Markarova in the gallery. “We will stand with you as long as it takes.”

    ___

    FEELING THEIR PAIN

    Among Biden’s guests were the parents of Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old Black man whose beating death at the hands of Memphis, Tennessee, police has reignited a national debate on policing.

    Efforts to reduce police excesses have been sharply restricted by resistance in Congress, and there’s little prospect of federal action.

    Still, Biden expressed awe at the grace of Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, who following his death has talked of her son’s “beautiful soul” and hopeful certainty that “something good will come from this.”

    Biden, 80, also acknowledged in plain terms that as a white man he’s enjoyed a privilege that Nichols’ parents — and Black parents writ large — do not.

    “Imagine having to worry whether your son or daughter will come home from walking down the street or playing in the park or just driving their car,” he said. “I’ve never had to have ‘the talk’ with my children — Beau, Hunter and Ashley — that so many Black and brown families have had with their children.”

    ___

    FINISH THE JOB

    Biden uttered the phrase “finish the job” at least a dozen times during his address. It sounded like the makings of a slogan he might employ for a reelection campaign.

    But it is highly unlikely he will be able to finish the job on many of the things he referenced, like an assault weapons ban, universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds and forcing companies to stop doing stock buybacks.

    At least not during this term.

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  • State of the Union live updates: Latest on Biden’s speech

    State of the Union live updates: Latest on Biden’s speech

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    By The Associated Press

    February 8, 2023 GMT

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Follow along for real-time updates on President Joe Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address from The Associated Press. Live updates are brought to you by AP journalists at the White House, on Capitol Hill and beyond.

    ___

    SAVORING THE MOMENT

    President Joe Biden spoke for 73 minutes during his State of the Union address in the House chamber.

    But he’s also a creature of the Senate, where he served for decades, and Capitol Hill.

    And so the president lingered for 20 minutes more after he had finished speaking in prime time to a national audience. He took selfies, shook hands and basked in the moment on the House floor.

    Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York yelled “Mr. President! That was awesome.”

    Biden grinned.

    The House chamber started to clear out, but not Biden — not yet, at least.

    “I’m going to get in trouble,” Biden said.

    House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gaveled the House to adjourn the moment the president walked out of the chamber.

    ___

    REPUBLICAN RESPONSE

    Giving the Republican response to the State of the Union, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she didn’t believe “much of anything” she heard from President Joe Biden and suggested he was unfit for the office he holds.

    A onetime press secretary for President Donald Trump, Sanders was elected in November to the job that her father, Mike Huckabee, once held.

    Sanders told her audience that Biden and the Democratic Party, “failed you. You know it, and they know it.”

    “Democrats want to rule us with more government control,” Sanders said. She also noted that, at age 40, she was half Biden’s age.

    ___

    SHOUTING BACK

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who made waves for shouting during President Joe Biden’s State to the Union last year, was back at again.

    The Georgia Republican jumped to her feet, pointed a finger and shouted down Biden on Tuesday night when the president said Republicans wanted to cut Medicare and Social Security as part of budget talks. Those are programs for mostly older Americans.

    And she yelled “China is spying on us,” as Biden said the United States was willing to take action in the aftermath of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that had drifted through American airspace.

    ___

    IN BIDEN’S WORDS

    “Two years ago, our democracy faced its greatest threat since the Civil War. Today, though bruised, our democracy remains unbowed and unbroken”

    —President Joe Biden, alluding to the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and the midterm losses last November by some candidates who spread election lies.

    ___

    WAS THAT A BALLOON?

    President Joe Biden made a blink-and-you-might-miss-it reference to the suspected Chinese spy balloon that U.S. fighter jets shot down last week.

    He was talking in the State of the Union address about working with China in an effort to advance American interests.

    But make no mistake, he said, “as we made clear last week, if China’s threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did.”

    ___

    A DIFFICULT SHOT

    It’s not easy to capture the president entering the House chamber for the big speech.

    The photojournalist doing it must walk backward as the president walks forward, shaking hands and waving, to his place on the rostrum in the House.

    For this year’s State of the Union, that journalist is AP’s Jacquelyn Martin. The Senate Press Photographers Association rotates which organization gets the honors. It’s the first time AP has done it in seven year

    ___

    IN BIDEN’S WORDS

    “American roads, American bridges, and American highways will be made with American products,”

    — President Joe Biden, announcing new federal standards requiring that all construction materials used in federal infrastructure projects be made in the United States He said buying American products has been the law since 1933, but past administrations have found ways to circumvent it.

    The standards could have a big impact. As part of the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law passed last year, Congress allocated $550 billion for roads, bridges, water infrastructure, broadband internet and other projects.

    ___

    ‘THE TALK’

    President Joe Biden says he’s never had to have “the talk” with his kids — the discussion about how to behave when pulled over by police.

    It’s a talk that many Black parents must have in order to protect their children from harm.

    Biden, in his State of the Union address, asked people in his audience to imagine how some parents feel, worrying their children may not come home. As he spoke, the president acknowledged the parents of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old man who was beaten to death by police officers in Memphis, Tennessee.

    Nichols’ parents sat with first lady Jill Biden during the speech in the House chamber.

    The president said he knows that most police officers are good, “decent people” who risk their lives when they go to work. But he urged better training for them and more resources to reduce crime.

    “What happened to Tyre in Memphis happens too often. We have to do better,” Biden said.

    ___

    OIL STILL NEEDED

    President Joe Biden drew derisive laughter from Republicans when he said the United States will need oil “for at least another decade.″

    Biden made the comment in his State of the Union address as he promoted a landmark law to slow climate change. That law authorizes hundreds of billions to boost renewable energy such as wind and solar power and help consumers buy electric vehicles and energy-efficient appliances.

    Republicans have criticized Biden for seeking greater oil production from OPEC and other countries even as he had sought to boost renewable energy. Biden appeared to be trying to reassure critics that he recognizes the need for continued oil production, although the 10-year time frame seems far short of what experts expect — that oil will be needed for decades to come.

    ___

    GETTING ROWDY

    Republicans got riled up when President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech touched on Medicare and Social Security.

    Biden suggested Republicans had fallen in line behind a proposal to put the continued existence of those two program to a vote every five years. In response, Republicans in the House chamber hollered, booed and shouted “liar!”

    Some Republicans even jumped to their feet to object.

    The proposal comes from Florida Sen. Rick Scott, but it hasn’t been endorsed by the majority of the Republican Party.

    In response, Biden said: “Anybody who doubts it, contact my office.”

    And he told his audience, “So we all agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the table.” That drew a standing ovation from members of both parties.

    ___

    TRUMP WEIGHS IN

    Donald Trump has been heard from.

    He released a brief online video minutes before President Joe Biden’s State of the Union. The former president ticked through a familiar list of grievances, blaming Biden and Democrats for things such as the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border and inflation.

    Trump also went after the Justice Department. It’s been investigating the unlawful retention of top secret records at Trump’s Florida home after Trump left the White House.

    Trump is the only major Republican so far who’s announced a 2024 presidential campaign.

    ___

    ‘NOT ANYMORE’

    Members of Congress rose to their feet and briefly chanted “not anymore” as President Joe Biden cited Democratic-led efforts to cap the cost of insulin to $35 per month for older Americans who use Medicare.

    In his State of the Union address, the president urged Congress to extend that price limit to millions of people on private insurance. That idea was scratched in Congress last year and is unlikely to gain traction now.

    Roughly 8.4 million Americans use insulin, according to the American Diabetes Association. About 1 million of those people, who have type 1 diabetes, can die without access to insulin.

    ___

    IN BIDEN’S WORDS

    “I’ll see you at the groundbreaking”

    — President Joe Biden, promising that money from his big infrastructure package will go to projects in Republican parts of the country as well as Democratic ones. Biden used much of his State of the Union speech to call for bipartisanship. This quip was a nice way to reach out Republicans. Democrats have criticized some Republicans who opposed the infrastructure plan but still want the dollars in it to cover projects in their districts.

    ___

    WARM WELCOME

    President Joe Biden began the speech with friendly remarks to Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The president turned to briefly shake hands with McCarthy.

    “I don’t want to ruin your reputation, but I look forward to working with you,” Biden told McCarthy with a chuckle.

    Biden is urging both parties to to find bipartisan unity during his speech.

    Before Biden began speaking, McCarthy said he wouldn’t tear up his copy of Biden’s speech. That was a reference to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi doing just that with her copy of President Donald Trump’s speech in 2020 just after he finished giving it.

    ___

    THINK PINK

    Pink — and its shades — appears to be the color of the evening — at the State of the Union.

    There’s first lady Jill Biden’s purplely pink and Vice President Kamala Harris’ magenta pantsuit. And House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has a reddish-pink tie.

    Aides insist it’s all just a coincidence — just the color of preference this evening.

    Remember that cherry blossom season in Washington is on the horizon, so perhaps it’s just a nod to the time of year.

    ___

    DESIGNATED SURVIVOR

    For this year’s State of the Union, it’s Labor Secretary Marty Walsh who’s the “designated survivor.”

    The Cabinet member isn’t at President Joe Biden’s address in the House chamber. Walsh instead is at an undisclosed location.

    The idea is to preserve the government’s succession in case of an attack or other incident at the Capitol where the president, vice president, speaker of the House and the rest of Biden’s Cabinet are gathered.

    Walsh is an interesting choice. He’s set to leave the Biden administration to run the National Hockey League Players’ Association. Six NHL games were being played Tuesday night and overlapping with Biden’s speech.

    Last year, when Biden gave his first State of the Union, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was chosen for the role.

    ___

    COURT’S IN SESSION

    A majority of the nine-member Supreme Court is attending the speech.

    Among the justices in the House chamber is Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the high court. She was nominated by President Joe Biden.

    Also in attendance are Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh.

    For the first time since 1997, retired justices are at the address.

    Stephen Breyer, who retired last year, giving Biden the opportunity to nominate Jackson, and Anthony Kennedy, who retired in 2018, are even wearing robes.

    Four members of the Supreme Court are absent: Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch.

    ___

    PLAYING NICE

    Vice President Kamala Harris and new Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California are playing nice —for now.

    The two shook hands as they took their seats behind where President Joe Biden soon will deliver his State of the Union speech in the House chamber. Harris and McCarthy were smiling and chatting as they waited for the speech to begin.

    Last year, Harris sat next to then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi at what was the first State of the Union address with two women in those seats of power.

    ___

    SANTOS’ SEAT

    George Santos’ lies about his resume and family background have cost him his place on House committees and intensified bipartisan calls for his resignation.

    But that didn’t stop the newly elected Republican congressman from New York from snagging one of the prime seats for Biden’s speech.

    Santos grabbed a mid-aisle seat in the House chamber. That means he could be seen on national television during wide camera shots and he’ll get a chance to catch a close glimpse of Biden when the president arrives for the address.

    Members of Congress generally sit together by party. But the seats in the House chamber aren’t assigned during the State of the Union. So Santos only had to get there early to stake out a prime location.

    ___

    BIDEN BINGO

    Given Biden’s penchant for frequently repeating his favorite phrases, supporters and detractors are assembling bingo cards of what reliable words and phrases he’s most likely to use during the speech.

    From the League of Women Voters to the National Constitution Center and the Washington media outlet Punchbowl News, groups have produced their versions of the cards. When “Bidenisms” come up, especially attentive viewers can cross them off.

    Some card list common one such as “folks,” “not a joke” and “inflection point.” Others are more policy focused. Think ”Ukraine,” “gas,” “inflation” and “tax cuts.”

    Many versions of the cards make the center square a free space. But even that can come with a dose of ideology. The conservative Americans for Tax Reform’s bingo card referred to it as “tax-payer funded ‘free’ space.”

    ___

    REPUBLICAN RESPONSE

    The last time many in Washington saw Sarah Huckabee Sanders, she was sparring with reporters in White House briefings as President Donald Trump’s press secretary. Now she’s the newly elected Republican governor of Arkansas, and on Tuesday night, she’s her party’s pick to give the response to Biden’s speech.

    In excerpts of those remarks, Sanders is denouncing what she calls the “radical left” agenda and Biden’s policies. She’s using her national platform to carry on conservatives’ fights on social issues, including how race is taught in public schools.

    The Sanders-Biden contrast is more than just ideological. Sanders is 40 years old and she’s the youngest governor in the country right now. Biden is twice her age.

    ___

    ‘FINISH THE JOB’

    Biden will ask the country he leads to give him more time to accomplish his biggest goals.

    “That’s always been my vision for the country: to restore the soul of the nation, to rebuild the backbone of America — the middle class — to unite the country.” That’s what the president plans to say in his State of the Union address, according to excerpts released by the White House before the prime-time speech.

    And also this: “We’ve been sent here to finish the job.”

    In the coming weeks, Biden is expected to formally announce his 2024 reelection campaign. A majority of Democrats now think one term is plenty for him, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

    ___

    FLURRY OF PREPARATIONS

    Preparations are underway at the Capitol with the president’s State of the Union address only a few hours away. And that means a flurry of behind-the-scenes operations to transform the stately building for the prime-time event.

    The House chamber is cleared out now that lawmakers have completed most of their business for the day. Crews are beginning their work.

    The gilded Statuary Hall is filling up with lights, cameras and broadcast teams for the many interviews that will air before before and after the speech.

    It’s the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic that the Capitol has been fully reopened for the event. Security is tight. People have begun filling the Capitol halls

    ___

    THE BALLOON

    Biden has taken lots of heat from Republicans over his handling of the suspected Chinese spy balloon that drifted across the United States before being shot down on Saturday over the Atlantic Ocean. GOP lawmakers had talked about introducing a resolution, just as the president was set to give his prime-time speech, that would have condemned the administration over the matter.

    Those plans have been scrapped, and instead a bipartisan proposal condemning China is being considered.

    “It’s too important of an issue. And we want to stand strong together against China instead of having our own internal fights,” Rep. Mike McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told The Associated Press. The Texas Republican is sponsoring the bipartisan resolution.

    Not everyone is on board, it seems. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican congresswoman from Georgia, showed up at the Capitol on Tuesday with a big white balloon.

    ___

    MIC DROP

    “We’re not going to do childish games tearing up a speech”

    — Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. That was a reference to his predecessor, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, who made a point of publicly ripping her copy of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address just after he finished speaking in 2020.

    ___

    INVITED GUESTS

    Keep an eye out for guests invited to the speech by the White House and members of Congress.

    Among those sitting with first lady Jill Biden will be the family of Tyre Nichols and the parents of a 3-year-old girl who has a rare form of cancer. There’ll be U2 frontman Bono, who has worked to combat HIV/AIDS, and Brandon Tsay, who disarmed the accused gunman in a mass shooting last month in California.

    Some Democratic lawmakers are bringing relatives of Black men and boys who have died at the hands of police.

    Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has invited former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom, who changed name from Enes Kanter after becoming a U.S. citizen in 2021. He grew up in Turkey and has been critical of Turkey’s president, Tayyip Erdoğan, and says a bounty has been issued against him in that country.

    —-

    HERE WE GO

    It’s State of the Union time, that day when the president delivers a speech to Congress that tries to accomplish a lot.

    Biden will want to talk about his accomplishments, toss out some goals for this year, tick off things that need fixing and do some cheerleading for the nation. And, of course, characterize the state of the union.

    Doing all of that can take a while. Biden’s 2022 State of the Union address ran just over 62 minutes. Bill Clinton gave the longest one ever, clocking in at one hour, 28 minutes in 2000. The award for the shortest speech goes to Republican George W. Bush, who spoke for 47 minutes in 2002.

    ___

    Follow AP’s coverage of the State of the Union address at: https://apnews.com/hub/state-of-the-union-address

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  • Marjorie Taylor Greene shouts

    Marjorie Taylor Greene shouts

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    Marjorie Taylor Greene shouts “liar” at Biden during State of the Union address – CBS News


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    During his State of the Union address, President Biden said, “Some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset,” prompting boos from Republicans and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene to shout “liar” at the president.

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  • How Trump and some of the potential 2024 GOP contenders responded to Biden’s State of the Union address

    How Trump and some of the potential 2024 GOP contenders responded to Biden’s State of the Union address

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    Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders may have been chosen to deliver the official GOP response to President Biden’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday, but other high-profile Republicans and potential presidential contenders were also ready with their own rapid reactions to his address.

    Their responses offered an early preview of how they might run against Mr. Biden, their likely 2024 general election opponent, should he choose to run for reelection. 

    Former President Donald Trump, the only officially declared Republican candidate for 2024, posted live reactions on his Truth Social platform throughout the address.

    His posts ranged from observations about Mr. Biden’s performance — “Too much use of the word ‘folks!’” — to criticism of Republicans who applauded during his speech.  

    “I notice Mitt Romney and some of the RINOs jumping up and down with applause for the wrong reasons!” he wrote. 

    Trump also shared a two-minute video slamming the Biden administration on immigration, high gas prices and crime.

    In the post of the video, Trump wrote that Biden “worked hard tonight” and that “you’ve got to give him credit for trying.”

    “I disagree with him on most of his policies, but he put into words what he felt, and he ended the evening far stronger than he began,” Trump wrote. “Many things weren’t mentioned that should have been, but that’s for another time.”

    Trump, whose handling of classified documents found at his resort in Mar-a-Lago is under investigation by the Justice Department, called the department “weaponized” and said it is “persecuting” political opponents. The Justice Department is also investigating classified documents from Mr. Biden’s tenure as vice president that were found at his former office and his home in Wilmington, Del.

    His 2024 campaign often sent out releases as well, hitting Biden on everything from his policy on China to education and “parents’ rights.”

    Before the address, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, too, released a video criticizing Mr. Biden. 

    She took issue with his withdrawal from Afghanistan, which she called “one of the most consequential failures of his presidency.”

    During the speech, she criticized the president on immigration, inflation and foreign policy, and called for “a new generation of leadership,” in a tweet.  

    Haley is expected to announce her 2024 presidential run on Feb. 15 in Charleston, becoming the first notable Republican to compete against Trump in the primary. 

    Former Vice President Mike Pence tweeted after Biden’s address that it “showed one thing: That it is time for new Republican leadership to get our Nation back to the strength and prosperity we had under the Trump-Pence Administration.”

    Pence and Haley often trail Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in early 2024 polls on a hypothetical presidential primary field. In a nationwide poll released Monday by the conservative group Club for Growth Action, Trump led the field with 37%. DeSantis was second at 33%, followed by Pence at 7% and Haley with 5%.

    DeSantis’ official Twitter accounts did not post during or immediately after the State of the Union, though his team’s rapid response account was active. 

    Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, who was a popular Republican governor in a historically Democratic state, said in a statement that while Mr. Biden had campaigned on unity, “America is more divided and fed up than ever” and that “more rhetoric won’t fix any of these urgent challenges or get our country back on track.”

    “In November, the American people voted for change because they want to stop the reckless spending, increase our domestic energy production, get tough on violent crime, and address the crisis at the border,” he said. “To fulfill his campaign promise, I urge President Biden to work with Congress to find common sense solutions to these urgent challenges.”

    Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, in a phone call with CBS News before the State of the Union, sharply critiqued Biden on China, and called him “soft” and said he should “shoot straight” on China and not “ignore the spy balloon” in his remarks.

    Asked about his own potential run in 2024, Youngkin said he was “completely focused on the Commonwealth of Virginia right now.”

    Fin Gomez and Robert Costa contributed reporting.

    Aaron Navarro

    Aaron Navarro is a digital reporter covering politics.

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  • Fact check: President Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address

    Fact check: President Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address

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    Oil companies made $200 billion in midst of global energy crisis

    Claim: “Big oil just reported its record profits. Last year they made $200 billion in the midst of a global energy crisis.”

    Fact check: Seems to be true, although companies were not identified.

    Details: Global oil companies have rebounded since the pandemic to post their highest ever profits since people started using petroleum. Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon and Shell all reported record profits in 2022 — a year in which Russia’s war on Ukraine collided with the post-pandemic economic recovery to drive oil prices to their highest levels in history. 

    President Biden did not identify the oil companies by name, but according to press releases and financial reports released by major oil companies, their net profits, listed below, show profits totaling over $200 billion. 

    By Willie James Inman and Irina Ivanova


     

    800,000 jobs in manufacturing created?

    Claim: “We’ve already created — [with] your help — 800,000 good-paying manufacturing jobs, the fastest growth in 40 years.”

    Fact check: True

    Details: Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showed that in the manufacturing sector, there were approximately 12,196,000 manufacturing employees when President Biden took office in January 2021. 

    Preliminary data from the BLS says that there were approximately 12,999,000 manufacturing employees as of January 2023, which is around 800,000 higher. 


    By Jack Turman

     

    The cost of insulin

    Claim: “One in 10 Americans has diabetes. Many of you in this chamber do, and in the audience. But every day, millions need insulin to control their diabetes so they can literally stay alive. Insulin has been around for over 100 years. The guy who invented it didn’t even patent it because he wanted it to be available for everyone. It costs the drug companies, roughly, $10 a vial to make that insulin.”

    Fact check: True

    Details:  According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention National Diabetes Statistics Report, “37.3 million Americans — about 1 in 10 — have diabetes.”

    More precisely, as of June 2022, 11.3% of the U.S. adult population have diabetes. Some 28.7 million people across the country have been diagnosed with diabetes, while 8.5 million have gone undiagnosed with the disease.

    Insulin, a hormone used to treat diabetes in certain patients, was first discovered over 100 years ago in 1922 and “marked a major breakthrough in medicine and therapy in patients with diabetes,” according to the National Institutes of Health.

    And although there is no definitive data on the exact cost of producing a vial of the lifesaving treatment, several news articles reference a 2018 peer-reviewed article from BMJ Global Health that estimates the cost to be about $10 per vial, although some experts indicate it could be a bit higher. It is clear that insulin costs far less than what some drug companies have charged in the past.


    By Robert Legare

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  • Biden faces divided Congress in State of the Union

    Biden faces divided Congress in State of the Union

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    Biden faces divided Congress in State of the Union – CBS News


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    President Biden will deliver his State of the Union address Tuesday night and is expected to tout the nation’s economic progress and call for more bipartisan solutions to the nation’s problems. Weijia Jiang has a preview.

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  • Watch Live: President Biden delivers the 2023 State of the Union

    Watch Live: President Biden delivers the 2023 State of the Union

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    President Joe Biden is giving his second State of the Union address before both Houses of Congress. 

    Mr. Biden extended a hand to Republicans for bipartisanship, touted the American story of “progress and resilience” while also emphasized the recent strong economic numbers, according to excerpts released by the White House.

    Mr. Biden’s olive branch to Republicans comes as he faces a divided Congress for the first time since he took office two years ago. A new CBS News poll released Tuesday showed many Americans are still anxious about inflation and the economy, and nearly half say Mr. Biden’s policies are making their own families’ finances worse.

    “My economic plan is about investing in places and people that have been forgotten,” Mr. Biden is expected to say.  “Amid the economic upheaval of the past four decades, too many people have been left behind or treated like they’re invisible. Maybe that’s you watching at home. You remember the jobs that went away. And you wonder whether a path even exists anymore for you and your children to get ahead without moving away. I get it. That’s why we’re building an economy where no one is left behind. Jobs are coming back, pride is coming back because of the choices we made in the last two years. This is a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America and make a real difference in your lives.”

    The speech comes days after the government said the U.S. added a stunning 517,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.4%, the lowest rate since 1969. Mr. Biden will likely bring up the strong jobs numbers during his address, touting them as a sign that the economy continues to grow even as inflation begins to recede.

    President Biden delivers State of the Union address
    President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol, on Feb. 7, 2023, as Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy listen.

    Pool / AP


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  • “CBS Evening News” headlines for Tuesday, February 7, 2023

    “CBS Evening News” headlines for Tuesday, February 7, 2023

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    “CBS Evening News” headlines for Tuesday, February 7, 2023 – CBS News


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    Here’s a look at the top stories making headlines on the “CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell.”

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  • Watch Live: President Biden’s 2023 State of the Union as poll finds country divided

    Watch Live: President Biden’s 2023 State of the Union as poll finds country divided

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    Washington — President Biden is set to deliver his State of the Union address in front of a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, where he will lay out his agenda for the coming year and tout his administration’s economic successes while attempting to seek common ground with Republicans on a series of issues.

    CBS News will air the State of the Union as a special report, anchored by “CBS Evening News” anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell. The speech begins at 9 p.m. ET and will be streamed for free online on the CBS News streaming network.

    Mr. Biden’s address comes amid widespread uncertainty at home and abroad, fueled by fluctuating economic indicators, ongoing instability over Russia’s war in Ukraine and heightened tension with China. A new CBS News poll released Tuesday showed many Americans are still anxious about inflation and the economy, and nearly half say Mr. Biden’s policies are making their own families’ finances worse.

    Outgoing National Economic Council Director Brian Deese said Monday that the president will try “to put in context the progress that we have made” on the economy while acknowledging that “we have more work to do to bring prices down, lower costs, and create some breathing room, as he says, for American families.”

    White House aides said Tuesday that the president will also highlight his four-part “unity agenda” that he introduced during last year’s State of the Union address, which includes overcoming the opioid epidemic, fighting cancer, supporting veterans and improving mental health care.

    The president will announce efforts to disrupt the trafficking, distribution and sale of fentanyl and work with Congress to ensure tough penalties for fentanyl suppliers, the aides said. A father whose daughter died of a fentanyl overdose is attending the speech as one of first lady Jill Biden’s guests.

    The White House said Mr. Biden will also urge Congress to reauthorize the National Cancer Act to boost funding for research and care centers, a key issue for the president, whose son died of brain cancer in 2015.

    Mr. Biden will discuss how the Department of Veterans Affairs is working to help prevent veteran suicides. More than 71,000 veterans have died by suicide since 2010, the White House said, and the VA is working to expand the number of specialists who can support them.

    On mental health, the president will call for bipartisan support to ban targeted online advertising aimed at young people. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will also launch a campaign to provide mental health resources for health care organizations to support their workforces. The president will discuss how to better connect more Americans to health care coverage, including with more than $280 million in grants the Department of Education will give to high-need districts to increase the number of mental health professionals in schools. 

    The speech comes days after the government said the U.S. added a stunning 517,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.4%, the lowest rate since 1969. Mr. Biden will likely bring up the strong jobs numbers during his address, touting them as a sign that the economy continues to grow even as inflation begins to recede.

    “It’s not just that we’ve seen the labor market improve this quickly, it’s not just that we’ve seen household balance sheets come out of a crisis in a stronger position than any modern prior recovery, but also the equitable nature of that,” Deese said.

    The State of the Union comes amid heightened tensions with China following the intrusion of a suspected spy balloon over U.S. skies last week that U.S. fighter jets eventually shot down off the coast of South Carolina. China has said the balloon was a civilian vessel and has denounced the use of force. The discovery of the balloon caused Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a planned trip to Beijing.

    Mr. Biden is also expected to mention the ongoing standoff over raising the debt ceiling. Last week, Mr. Biden had his first formal meeting with new Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who said after the meeting that the two focused on the debt limit and spending.

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  • How to watch the Republican response to the State of the Union

    How to watch the Republican response to the State of the Union

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    Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be delivering the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night. 

    CBS News will broadcast the Republican response as part of the special report on the State of the Union. 

    Sanders was first elected in November as the first female governor in Arkansas’ history and the youngest current governor in America, after serving as the White House press secretary for former President Donald Trump. The person from the opposing political party who is chosen for the response to the president’s speech is generally viewed as an up-and-comer in political circles. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who is mulling a presidential run, delivered the response in 2021 and former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, who is also considering a White House bid, delivered it in 2016.

    Rep. Juan Ciscomani of Arizona will deliver the Republican response in Spanish. 

    State of the Union What to Watch
    Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks after taking the oath of the office on the steps of the Arkansas Capitol, Jan. 10, 2023, in Little Rock, Ark. 

    Will Newton / AP


    One topic that is almost certain to come up is the debt ceiling, which must be raised or suspended to avert default, since the U.S. hit the debt ceiling in mid-January. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has begun to undertake extraordinary measures to keep paying the nation’s creditors and others to avoid default, but she expects to reach the limit of those measures some time in June. 

    Raising the debt limit will require the support of House Republicans, now in the majority, but there are deep disagreements with the White House on the way forward. Republicans are demanding spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, while President Biden wants a “clean vote” on the debt limit.

    On Monday, the eve of the State of the Union address, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave a speech focused on the debt ceiling and called the national debt the “greatest threat to our future.” He said the current pattern of spending, which he blamed on Democrats, isn’t an option, although he also emphasized that cuts to Medicare and Social Security are “off the table.” 

    “Now, President Biden wants Congress to raise the debt limit yet again, without a single sensible change, to how government spends your hard earned money,” McCarthy said. “Does that sound responsible to you?” 

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  • AP to ChatGPT: Do the State of the Union, as Shakespeare

    AP to ChatGPT: Do the State of the Union, as Shakespeare

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — If you’ve heard it once in a president’s State of the Union speech, you’ve heard it 100 times: There is nothing the American people can’t do when they pull together.

    But you haven’t heard that thought in a State of Union address from William Shakespeare: “Lo,” said the bard. “With kindness, love, and understanding clear, we shall conquer all, and have naught to fear.”

    Nor from the noggin-knocking Three Stooges of last century’s fame: “We just put our heads together, come up with a plan, and bam! Problem solved!”

    More on the State of the Union

    Let’s face it, State of the Union speeches are mostly rote. Presidents roll out a list of accomplishments, a few anecdotes about guests in attendance, a sober assessment of the problems of the day and a crescendo about glory times ahead.

    To shake up the formula before President Joe Biden’s speech to Congress on Tuesday night, The Associated Press instructed the artificial intelligence program ChatGPT to work up State of the Union speeches as they might have been written by some of history’s greatest minds as well as some stooges.

    AP ordered up 300-word versions, in contrast to Biden’s sprawling 6,400 words last year, and tapped a few people so iconic we know them by only one name. The virtual Greek philosopher Aristotle gracefully quoted Socrates, Cleopatra the historic Egyptian ruler asked for the blessing of the gods, Madonna cited her perspective as a mother and a woman in the entertainment industry.

    ChatGPT was also asked to channel singer Elvis Presley, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, the ground-breaking NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, Tesla and Twitter CEO Elon Musk, the abolitionist Sojourner Truth, and baseball’s Yogi Berra, among other luminaries.

    We also wanted to see what a bright, unidentified 10-year-old might say to the assembled lawmakers.

    The app is part of a new generation of AI systems that can converse in human-like fashion and generate text on demand based on what they’ve learned from a vast database of digital books, online writings and other media. It petrifies teachers who fear their students will use it instead of their brains for school papers.

    ChatGPT rendered Shakespeare’s State of the Union speech in rhyme, scrolling on the screen faster than anyone could read it. The version channeling comedian Jerry Seinfeld captured his verbal mannerisms and signature phrasings.

    “I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and I’ve realized that the state of our union is like a sandwich,” wrote the app-generated Seinfeld. “You’ve got the top bun, which is all the good stuff. You’ve got the cheese, the lettuce, the tomato, the mayo. It’s all delicious.

    “But then, when you take a closer look, you see the bottom bun, and that’s where the real work is. That’s where the foundation is.”

    Yada, yada yada.

    For all the app’s smarts and speed, it wasn’t all-knowing. In the speech channeling King, it had the civil rights leader quoting himself. It conveyed none of Abraham Lincoln’s eloquence. And it declined to take a run at drafting 2023 Biden’s speech, instead serving up a rehash of his last one.

    It also drew a blank when asked for a speech from George Santos, the new Republican congressman from New York who was caught fictionalizing his past. It seemed to sense, though, that there was something make-believe in the picture.

    “George Santos is not a widely recognized public figure or historical figure,” the app responded. “There is no widely known information about a person by this name in the public domain. It’s possible that the name was created for a specific use or scenario, such as a fictional character or a person in a private setting.”

    A look at some of the speeches ChatGPT generated:

    WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

    My Lords and Ladies, countrymen and women, Gather ye here today to hear what I say, In this great hall of ours, let us unite, And listen to the state of our fair state.

    We stand today as one, in good health and grace, Prosperous and free, with a peaceful space, Our trade and commerce flourish, wealth abounds, With bountiful harvests, and peace surrounds.

    But, lo, there are still challenges we face, For not all are equal in our fair place, We must work together to bridge the divide, And bring forth equality, from side to side.

    Let us not forget, our soldiers bold and brave, Who fought for freedom, and our country gave, Their lives and limbs, for our safety and peace, We must repay them with honors and release.

    And so I say, let us work hand in hand, To build a brighter future, in this fair land, With kindness, love, and understanding clear, We shall conquer all, and have naught to fear.

    And now, my friends, I bid thee all farewell, And trust that thou wilt work, with heart and will, For the good of all, and the betterment of man, Together we shall build, a stronger, better land.

    ___

    SOJOURNER TRUTH, the 1800s abolitionist and evangelist born into slavery

    As a former slave, I stand before you today as a witness to the ongoing struggle for freedom and equality in this great nation. Despite the progress made since the abolition of slavery, I cannot help but feel a deep sense of disappointment at the persistence of racial injustice.

    African Americans are still being denied their basic rights, facing discrimination and prejudice at every turn. This is evident in the disproportionate number of black people who are incarcerated, unemployed, and living in poverty. It is also evident in the ongoing struggle for voting rights, as Black citizens are still being denied the right to vote through various means, including gerrymandering and voter suppression tactics.

    But I have not lost hope. I have faith in the resilience of my people, and I am inspired by the efforts of those who continue to fight for justice. I am heartened by the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and the many other groups who are speaking out against systemic racism and calling for change.

    I call upon all of you to join me in this fight. We must not be complacent in the face of injustice. We must continue to stand up for what is right, even when it is difficult. We must continue to fight for equal rights for all, regardless of race, gender, or religion.

    Together, we can create a future where all people are free from discrimination and prejudice, where everyone has the opportunity to succeed, and where justice and equality reign supreme. This is the state of our union, and it is a call to action. Let us work together to build a brighter future for all.

    ___

    JERRY SEINFELD

    Good evening, my fellow Americans. How’s everyone doing tonight? I’m here to give you the State of the Union address, and I must say, I’m a little nervous. I mean, usually when I give a speech, I have a microphone and a stage and a live audience. But tonight, it’s just me and you, so I hope you don’t mind if I sprinkle in a few jokes to lighten the mood.

    Now, let’s talk about the state of our union. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and I’ve realized that the state of our union is like a sandwich …

    We’ve got the top bun, which is all the good stuff. We’ve got the economy, which is looking pretty tasty. We’ve got low unemployment, and businesses are thriving. … I want to focus on the bottom bun. I want to focus on the foundation. I want to talk about the things that we don’t always see or talk about, but that are so important. I want to talk about education, and healthcare, and infrastructure. I want to talk about the things that make our country strong …

    Let’s make sure that our country is a delicious sandwich that we can all be proud of.

    ___

    YOGI BERRA, baseball hall of famer

    It’s like deja vu all over again, folks! We’ve been here before and we’re here again. The state of the union, it’s complicated, but we’re makin’ progress. We’ve got our ups and our downs, but we gotta keep swingin’ at those curveballs life throws our way.

    Now, let me tell ya, we’ve been workin’ hard to make this country a better place for all of us. We’ve got a lot of people doin’ a lot of good things, and we gotta keep that up. And for those who ain’t doin’ so well, we gotta help ‘em out. We’re all in this together, like a big ol’ family.

    We’ve got a lot of challenges ahead of us, but we’ve also got a lot of opportunities. We’ve gotta take ’em both on, head on. And we’ve gotta work together, ‘cause ain’t nothin’ we can’t do if we work together.

    So, let’s keep up the good work, folks. Let’s make this country the best it can be. It ain’t gonna be easy, but ain’t nothin’ worth doin’ ever is.

    ___

    KATHERINE JOHNSON, a mathematician whose calculations enabled NASA to put the first Americans into Earth’s orbit and on the moon

    My fellow Americans,

    As a mathematician, I have spent my career using numbers and equations to solve complex problems and push the boundaries of what is possible. And as I look at our nation today, I see a problem that demands our attention and our action.

    We are facing a crisis in mathematics education. Too many of our children are struggling to keep up, and too few are pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This not only undermines their future opportunities, but also threatens our ability to compete in an increasingly technological world.

    But the solution to this problem is within our reach. We must invest in math education, from early childhood through high school and beyond. We must provide our teachers with the support and resources they need to help students succeed, and we must encourage girls and underrepresented minorities to pursue careers in STEM fields.

    As we work to address this crisis, let us also remember the incredible potential of mathematics. Math is not just a subject to be studied, but a powerful tool that can help us tackle the greatest challenges of our time. Whether we are working to cure diseases, address climate change, or build a more just and equitable society, math will be an essential part of the solution.

    My own journey as a mathematician has taken me from the halls of NASA to the history books, but it all started with a love of numbers and a desire to use them to make a difference in the world. And I believe that every child in America, regardless of their background or circumstances, should have the opportunity to discover their own love of math and use it to make a difference.

    So let us recommit ourselves to ensuring that all Americans have access to a quality math education, and let us harness the power of math to build a better future for ourselves and for generations to come.

    ___

    ELVIS PRESLEY

    Well, hello there, my fellow Americans!

    It’s great to be here today, talking to you all about the state of our union. Now, let me tell you, we’ve been rockin’ and rollin’ over the past year, and I’ve got some good news to share with you all.

    We’re making progress, friends. Our economy is stronger than ever, our businesses are booming, and our country is more united than ever. You know, when I look out into this crowd, I see Americans from all walks of life, all coming together for the greater good of our nation.

    Now, I know some folks out there might say we’ve got some challenges to overcome, but I’ve got to tell you, I believe in the American people. We’ve faced tough times before, and we’ve always come out on top. And we’re gonna do it again.

    We’re gonna keep on truckin’, we’re gonna keep rockin’ and rollin’, and we’re gonna keep building a better future for all Americans. I’ve got faith in you, my fellow Americans, and I know that together, we can do anything.

    So let’s get to work, let’s keep this train rollin’, and let’s make America great again. Thank you, and God bless America!

    ___

    ARISTOTLE, ancient Greek philosopher

    Citizens of the Republic, I stand before you today to address the state of our great society. In the words of my predecessor, Socrates, the measure of a state is not the number of people in it, but the quality of life they lead. And it is with this measure that I assess the state of our union.

    We must strive for excellence in all that we do, for it is this pursuit of excellence that will bring about true happiness and fulfillment. It is through virtuous action that we find our true purpose and meaning, and it is through the cultivation of virtue that we build a strong and just society.

    But we must not simply aim for personal excellence, for a society is more than the sum of its individual parts. We must also strive for excellence in our relationships with one another, promoting justice and harmony among our citizens. Only then can we build a society in which each individual can flourish and reach their full potential.

    It is our duty as citizens to actively participate in the governance of our society, to use our reason and our wisdom to help shape the policies and laws that govern us. And it is our duty to educate future generations in the art of virtuous living, to ensure that our society remains strong and virtuous for generations to come.

    So let us work together, citizens of the Republic, to build a society that is truly excellent, a society in which each and every one of us can reach our full potential and find true happiness and fulfillment. For it is only through such a society that we can truly say that the state of our union is strong and virtuous.

    Thank you, and may the gods bless our great Republic.

    ___

    MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

    My fellow Americans,

    We gather here today, at a momentous time in our nation’s history, to address the state of our union. And as we do so, I am reminded of the words of the great prophet Amos, who declared, “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

    For too long, justice has been denied to too many in our society. For too long, righteousness has been an elusive dream. And it is time for us to awaken from this slumber and work together to build a more perfect union.

    We cannot be satisfied until every American, regardless of race, religion, or background, has an equal opportunity to achieve the American dream. We cannot be satisfied until every child, regardless of zip code, has access to a quality education. We cannot be satisfied until every worker, regardless of industry, is paid a fair wage and treated with dignity and respect.

    But let us not become discouraged, for we have made progress. We have seen a civil rights movement that brought about change, and we will continue to see change in our time. For as Dr. King said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

    So let us bend that arc, together. Let us roll down justice and righteousness like waters. Let us create a society where every person is valued and respected, where every person has an equal chance to succeed.

    And let us not forget, as we work for this noble cause, that we are all one people, bound together by our common humanity. For as Dr. King also said, “We may have all come on different ships, but we are in the same boat now.”

    So let us come together, as one people, to build a better future for all. Thank you.

    ___

    A 10-YEAR-OLD

    Hi everyone! I’m really excited to be here today, talking about the state of our country.

    I think that overall, things are going pretty well. We have a lot of great things happening, like new schools being built, new parks being made, and new jobs being created. But there are still some things that we can do better.

    For example, there are still a lot of kids who don’t have enough to eat, or who don’t have a safe place to live. That’s not okay, and I think we need to do more to help them. I think we should make sure that every kid has enough to eat, and that every kid has a warm and safe place to sleep at night.

    Another thing I think we need to work on is making sure that everyone gets along. There’s still a lot of fighting and meanness, and that’s not cool. I think we should all be friends and help each other out.

    Finally, I think we need to make sure that everyone has a chance to be happy and have fun. That means making sure that everyone has access to parks, playgrounds, and places to play. It also means making sure that everyone has access to books, computers, and other things that can help us learn and grow.

    So that’s what I think about the state of our country. I think we’re doing pretty well, but there’s still a lot of work to do. But I’m optimistic, because I know that if we all work together, we can make things better for everyone.

    Thanks for listening, and let’s work together to make our country the best it can be!

    ___

    MAHATMA GANDHI

    My dear friends, I stand before you today as a humble servant of the people, to address the state of our nation.

    In the face of adversity, it is easy to lose sight of what is truly important. But I implore you, let us not forget the values that have guided us for generations. Let us not forget the power of nonviolence, the strength of truth, and the importance of compassion.

    For it is only through these values that we can truly build a just and equitable society. It is only through these values that we can truly claim to be a great nation.

    But we have much work to do. The poverty, the inequality, and the discrimination that still plagues our society must be eradicated. We must be unwavering in our commitment to justice, to peace, and to compassion.

    And we must not be afraid to challenge the status quo, to resist the forces of oppression, and to stand up for what is right. For it is only by doing so that we can truly claim to be a great people.

    So let us come together, my friends, and let us work for a brighter future for all our citizens. …

    And let us do so with nonviolence, with truth, and with compassion. For it is only through these values that we can truly claim to be a great nation, a great people, and a great civilization.

    Thank you, and may God bless us all.

    ___

    THE THREE STOOGES of vaudeville, film and TV fame

    My fellow Americans, it’s a honor to stand before you today to talk about the state of our great union. And let me tell you, it’s been quite the ride so far! But we’re not ones to back down from a challenge, are we? No sirree, not the Three Stooges! ….

    But we can’t do it alone. We need the support of all Americans. … So, let’s keep working hard, my fellow Americans. Let’s make this country the best it can be. And most importantly, let’s keep laughing and having a good time while we do it! After all, life is too short to take it too seriously.

    ___

    WINSTON CHURCHILL, 20th century British prime minister and orator

    My fellow citizens, it is with a heavy heart and steadfast determination that I address you today. Our great nation stands at a crossroads, facing challenges that would test the mettle of any generation. But I have faith, faith in the resilience and courage of the American people, that we shall overcome.

    We have seen the forces of division and despair seek to tear at the fabric of our society, but we shall not be swayed. We shall stand united, firm in our resolve to defend the principles upon which this great nation was founded. Freedom, justice, and equality for all shall not be sacrificed upon the altar of greed or hatred.

    The road ahead will not be easy, and there will be obstacles, but we shall not falter. We shall continue to work tirelessly, to build a future of prosperity and security for all our citizens. A future where every American has the opportunity to fulfill their dreams, regardless of the circumstances of their birth.

    It is time for us to rededicate ourselves to the ideals that have made this country great. It is time for us to come together, to set aside our differences, and work towards a common goal. A goal of a better future for all Americans, a future where our children and grandchildren can live in peace, security, and prosperity.

    So let us stand together, my fellow citizens. Let us face the future with the same courage and determination that has made this country the envy of the world. Let us continue to move forward, always remembering that, “We shall never surrender.”

    Thank you, and may God bless the United States of America.

    ___

    CLEOPATRA, queen of Egypt 51-30 B.C.

    My fellow Egyptians,

    It is with great pride and humility that I stand before you today, as your Queen and leader, to deliver this State of the Union address. I am honored to serve the people of this great nation, a nation with a rich and proud history that has stood tall and strong for centuries.

    In recent years, we have faced many challenges, but through hard work and determination, we have emerged stronger and more united than ever before. Our economy is thriving, our communities are flourishing, and our people are thriving.

    However, we cannot rest on our achievements … we must remain vigilant against those who would threaten our security and our way of life. We must work with our allies to promote peace and stability in the world, and to defend our values and our interests.

    But most of all, we must remember that our greatest strength lies in our people. It is the hard work, the ingenuity, and the determination of the Egyptian people that has always made our country great, and it is their continued efforts that will keep us strong and prosperous in the years to come.

    So let us continue to work together, to strive for a better future, and to build a stronger, more prosperous Egypt.

    Thank you, and may the gods bless Egypt.

    ___

    ABRAHAM LINCOLN

    My fellow Americans,

    It is with a heavy heart but steadfast determination that I stand before you today to deliver this State of the Union address. Our great nation is embroiled in a conflict that has tested the very fabric of our union, but I am confident that with the perseverance of our people and the grace of God, we will emerge from this trial stronger and more united than ever before.

    This war, fought over the fundamental principles of freedom and equality, has taken a tremendous toll on our country and our people. But despite the hardships, we have not wavered in our commitment to preserving the Union and ending the scourge of slavery.

    As we move forward, we must work together to heal the wounds of this conflict and build a better future for all Americans. We must work to reunite our divided nation and ensure that the blessings of liberty and equality are extended to all, regardless of race or station.

    We must also take steps to ensure that this dark chapter in our history is never repeated. We must ensure that the sacrifice of so many brave Americans was not in vain, and that we never again turn a blind eye to the injustice and suffering of our fellow citizens.

    So let us come together, as one people, and work towards a brighter future for our nation and for all who call it home.

    Thank you, and may God bless America.

    ___

    ELON MUSK, CEO of Tesla, SpacEx and Twitter, and one of the founders of Open AI, the research lab that created ChatGPT

    My fellow Americans,

    It is an honor to address you today, as your elected leader, and to deliver this State of the Union Address. … I am proud to announce a bold new plan to invest in the technologies of the future, and to create millions of good-paying jobs in the process. We must lead the world in the transition to a clean energy economy, and we must ensure that our infrastructure is the most advanced and resilient in the world …

    I am announcing a new initiative to increase funding for space research and development, so that we can continue to explore the mysteries of the universe and maintain our position as a leader in space exploration …

    But we must also address the inequalities that have been exposed by the pandemic, and we must ensure that all Americans have access to the opportunities of the future. That is why I am announcing a comprehensive plan to improve access to education, job training, and affordable healthcare.

    ___

    BIDEN, delivered by the app as a rehash of past remarks

    It is an honor to stand before you today as your President and deliver this State of the Union address. This past year has been one of the most challenging in our nation’s history, but through it all, the American people have shown remarkable resilience, bravery, and compassion.

    We have faced a once-in-a-century pandemic that has taken too many lives and disrupted our economy, but we are making progress. We have delivered vaccines to millions of Americans and are seeing cases decline, and we are working to reopen our schools and businesses safely.

    But we cannot rest on our achievements. We must do more to rebuild our economy and make sure that the benefits of this recovery are felt by all Americans, not just the wealthy and well-connected. That is why I am proposing a bold infrastructure plan to create millions of good-paying jobs, modernize our roads, bridges, and highways, and make America more competitive in the global economy.

    At the same time, we must address the long-standing injustices in our society, particularly racial and economic inequality. That is why I am committed to passing legislation to protect voting rights, advance racial justice, and ensure that everyone has a fair shot at the American Dream.

    And as we look to the future, we must also address the existential threat of climate change. We cannot afford to wait any longer to address this crisis, which is already affecting communities across our country. That is why I am committed to achieving a 100% clean energy economy and creating good-paying jobs in the process.

    So let us come together, as one nation, and build a better future for all Americans. Together, there is nothing we cannot achieve.

    Thank you, and may God bless America.

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  • A Rare Reprieve From the Permanent Presidential Campaign

    A Rare Reprieve From the Permanent Presidential Campaign

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    Does anyone want to be president?

    Typically, by the time a president delivers the State of the Union address at the start of his third year in office, as Joe Biden will on Tuesday, at least half a dozen rivals are already gunning for his job. When Donald Trump began his annual speech to Congress in 2019, four of the Democrats staring back at him inside the House chamber had already declared their presidential candidacies.

    Not so this year. The only Republican (or Democrat, for that matter) officially trying to oust Biden is the former president he defeated in 2020. Trump announced his third White House run in November and then barely bothered to campaign for the next two months before holding relatively small-scale events in New Hampshire and South Carolina in January. Trump will finally get some company next week, when Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, plans to kick off her campaign in Charleston. More Republicans could soon jump into the presidential pool. But the 2024 campaign has gotten off to a decidedly slow start, and the first weeks of 2023 have brought a rare reprieve from what has become known—with some derision—as the permanent campaign. This pause is not the result of some collective cease-fire; it’s what happens when you have a former president who lost reelection but still inspires fear in his party, along with a Democratic incumbent—the oldest to ever serve—who is not exactly itching to campaign.

    Even New Hampshire—normally one of the first states to welcome would-be presidents—has been subdued. “Other than Trump, I can’t think of a leading person being here for the last couple of months,” Raymond Buckley, the longtime chair of the state’s Democratic Party, told me. He said he’s used the lull to prioritize party building, “instead of constantly focusing on one Republican senator or governor after another.”

    The same is true in Iowa, that other presidential proving ground with a year-round appetite for stump speeches. “It’s pretty quiet on the western front,” David Oman, a Republican strategist and former co-chair of the Iowa state GOP, told me. As my colleague McKay Coppins recently reported, most of the Republicans who want the party to nominate someone other than Trump are, once again, reluctant to actually do anything about it. Trump’s potential GOP rivals have been similarly shy about taking him on; until Haley put out word about her announcement last week, no one in the emerging field—which could include Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, among others—was willing to be the first target of the barrage of insults and invective Trump would surely hurl their way.

    Read: Republicans’ 2024 magical thinking

    The momentary quietude has dampened any pressure for Biden to shift back into campaign mode, and he’s in no rush anyway. Tuesday’s State of the Union address will likely yield even more performance reviews than usual, as pundits and viewers alike judge the toll that Biden’s advancing age has taken on his oratory. As for the substance of his speech, White House officials told me Biden will continue the project he began months ago: promoting the accomplishments of his first two years in office, especially his bipartisan infrastructure law and the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act that he signed last summer.

    In the absence of a fully formed GOP presidential field, Biden has been content to use the new House Republican majority as a foil—adopting a strategy that Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama employed after Democrats lost power in Congress during their first terms. Biden has vowed to protect programs such as Medicare and Social Security from GOP budget cuts; refused to negotiate over the debt ceiling (although the White House said last week he’d entertain “separate” conversations on deficit reduction); and eagerly highlighted ill-fated GOP proposals to replace the federal income tax with a 30 percent national sales tax.

    Yet with Speaker Kevin McCarthy seated behind the president on the House rostrum for the first time, Biden is expected to stress conciliation over confrontation. “The president will once again amplify his belief that Democrats and Republicans can work together,” a White House official told me, speaking anonymously to preview a speech that hasn’t been finalized, “as they did in the last two years and as he is committed to doing with this new Congress to get big things done on behalf of the American people.”

    Biden allies expect the president to formally announce his reelection bid sometime after the State of the Union, but they note that could still be months away. Such a wait isn’t unusual for incumbents, who don’t need to introduce themselves to the electorate and generally want to be seen as focused on governing. But no president since Ronald Reagan has faced as much uncertainty about whether he would seek a second term. (Then the oldest president, Reagan was eight years younger in 1983 than the 80-year-old Biden is now.) Outgoing Chief of Staff Ron Klain pointedly referenced a reelection bid as he departed the White House last week, telling Biden he looked forward to supporting him “when you run for president in 2024.” But other White House officials routinely affix the qualifier “if he runs” to discussions about a potential campaign, suggesting it remains less than a sure thing.

    Franklin Foer: How Joe Biden wins again

    Aiding Biden is the fact that no Democrats of note (besides Marianne Williamson) have made any moves to challenge him for the nomination, and the president’s allies are operating under the assumption that he will have the field to himself. “I would be shocked at this point if this becomes a competitive primary,” Amanda Loveday, a senior adviser to the pro-Biden super PAC Unite the Country, told me.

    The bigger question is how many Republicans will challenge Biden knowing they’ll have to get through Trump first—and when they’ll see fit to jump in. GOP officials told me they expect Haley’s announcement to prompt others to enter the race soon. But Trump clearly froze the field for a while. All through 2021 and most of 2022, Buckley told me, “rarely a week went by without a major visit” to New Hampshire from a White House aspirant. “It all came to a grinding halt once Trump announced,” he said. Jeff Kaufmann, the Republican Party chair in Iowa, told me that the first months of 2021—the brief period after January 6 when Trump’s political future was in doubt—were busier for GOP hopefuls than this past January, just a year before the caucuses.

    For most of American history, the observation that barely anyone was campaigning more than a year and a half before the election would be entirely unremarkable. Only in this century has a two-year campaign for a four-year term in the White House become the norm. (As recently as 1992, the governor of a small southern state declared his candidacy only 14 months before the election, and he did just fine.)

    For most of the country, this respite from presidential politics is probably welcome, especially for voters who were inundated with nonstop campaign ads leading up to the midterm election. The view is a bit different, however, in Iowa and New Hampshire, where the quadrennial pilgrimage of politicos brings welcome attention and a sizable economic boost. Republicans in both states want to ensure that the GOP does not follow the Democrats in trying to leave them behind. Kaufmann told me he wasn’t worried; Senator Tim Scott would be coming out to Iowa in a few weeks, and others were calling to schedule events, perhaps preparing their launches. By March, he assured me, all would be back to normal. This extended presidential halftime will be over, and America’s never-ending campaign will resume in full.

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    Russell Berman

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  • Top Biden aides and writers to gather at Camp David to work on State of the Union address

    Top Biden aides and writers to gather at Camp David to work on State of the Union address

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    Senior advisers to President Joe Biden are expected to gather this weekend at Camp David to sharpen the president’s State of the Union message, which will be delivered Tuesday night. 

    Longtime Biden aides including senior White House advisers Bruce Reed, Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn will join chief White House speechwriter Vinay Reddy. And Steve Ricchetti, counselor to Mr. Biden, will also spend the weekend at Camp David to help with speechwriting, according to a source familiar with the plans. Mr. Biden is expected at Camp David Saturday evening and Sunday.

    Two sources familiar with the planning tell CBS News historian and author Jon Meacham, who has served as an occasional outside adviser to Mr. Biden during the 2020 campaign and his presidency, is also heading to Camp David for speech preps. 

    Meacham helped craft the president’s acceptance speech at the Democratic convention, his inaugural address, and the president’s remarks delivered on the one year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. 

    The president is known to spend several weeks planning for major addresses like the State of the Union, historically the moment a president can draw his largest television audience of the year. But he’s also known to fiddle with the text up to the last possible moment.

    “These types of speeches continue to evolve, sometimes until the final moments before being delivered, as you can imagine,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday. 

    A White House official said the president’s Tuesday address, which comes at roughly the halfway point of his term, will “underscore the significant progress our nation has made during one of the most challenging periods in our history” and look ahead to the next two years.

    It will touch on the economy — including Friday’s better-than-expected jobs report — past legislative wins, and foreign policy challenges like Russia’s war in Ukraine and competition with China. “The president will once again amplify his belief that Democrats and Republicans can work together,” the official said. Biden now faces a divided Congress, with Republicans holding a narrow majority in the House.

    Mr. Biden is also likely to raise more urgent concerns, including calls for police reform in the wake of the beating death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, and immigration reform and border security, a top concern of House Republicans. Nichols’ parents will attend the speech as guests of Rep. Steven Horsford, Democrat of Nevada, the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. 

    Meacham, a former editor of Newsweek, has written more than a dozen books, most with a focus on American presidents. He is a professor at Vanderbilt University.  

    In a 2021 interview with CBS News, Meacham called the president “a friend” who “asked me for some help on speeches, and I’ve been happy to do that.”

    This October, Mr. Biden recalled asking his brother James Biden to figure out which paintings, busts and other decorations would adorn the Oval Office once his brother officially took office. James Biden turned to Meacham for the design.

    “He came and worked out what my office would look like — the Oval,” Biden said, adding that Meacham is “a really serious guy, a good guy.”

    Meacham’s choices included paintings of George Washington, Franklin Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

    “And then I said, ‘Why Lincoln?,’” Biden said, rehashing the conversation. “He said, ‘Because the nation has never been as divided since the Civil War.’”

    In early November, as Mr. Biden boarded Air Force Once, he was spotted carrying a Meacham book on Abraham Lincoln, “And There Was Light.”

    Weijia Jiang


    Weijia Jiang

    Weijia Jiang is the senior White House correspondent for CBS News based in Washington, D.C.

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  • Biden and his team ramp up travel to highlight effects of infrastructure law ahead of State of the Union | CNN Politics

    Biden and his team ramp up travel to highlight effects of infrastructure law ahead of State of the Union | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    President Joe Biden and senior administration officials are embarking on a travel swing this week, showcasing what they see as successful measures to rebuild America’s ailing infrastructure.

    In what’s been described as a preview of some of the messaging for next week’s State of the Union address, Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Cabinet secretaries are all hitting the road to highlight the implementation of the landmark legislation signed into law during the president’s first two years in office. Among those accomplishments are the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Chips and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act.

    The president traveled to Baltimore on Monday to showcase the implementation of his policies, and later this week, he’ll head to New York City and Philadelphia for similar remarks.

    The trips are taking place in the lead up to Biden’s State of the Union speech in Washington next week – a national platform where he’s expected to illustrate how his policies are successfully going into effect – and a prospective reelection announcement in the coming months. Biden’s approach is expected to be focused on touting the rebound of the American economy and taking aim at Republican proposals – while still underscoring his desire to work across the aisle.

    In Baltimore on Monday, he discussed how the infrastructure law will fund replace the 150-year-old Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel, addressing the largest bottleneck for commuters on the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D C, and New Jersey. The new tunnel will be named in honor of civil rights leader and abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

    Speaking from a presidential podium set to the backdrop of an American flag and an Amtrak train on the tracks, Biden recalled that he’d made a thousand trips through the tunnel and walked through it in the 1980s.

    “When folks talk about how badly the Baltimore tunnel needs an upgrade, you don’t need me to tell you. I’ve been there and you’ve been there, too,” Biden said.

    “You ought to get inside and see,” he remarked, discussing his tour of the tunnel decades ago. “This is a 150-year-old tunnel. I wonder how in the hell it’s still standing.”

    “The structure is deteriorating. The roof is leaking. The floor is sinking. This is the United States of America, for God’s sake. We know better than that,” he continued.

    When the project is done, Biden said, trains will roll through the tunnel at 110 mph instead of 30 mph, shortening regional MARC train commutes from Baltimore to Washington to 30 minutes.

    At Monday’s project kickoff, the president announced an agreement between the state of Maryland and Amtrak, which includes a $450 million commitment for the tunnel replacement project, according to the White House. A project labor agreement between Amtrak and the Baltimore-DC Building and Construction Trades Council was unveiled to cover the first phase of the project. And he also announced an agreement between Amtrak and the North American Builders’ Trade Union “that ensures Amtrak’s large civil engineering construction projects controlled by Amtrak will be performed under union agreements,” according to the White House.

    The program is expected to cost approximately $6 billion, of which Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding could contribute up to $4.7 billion, the White House said. Biden was joined by labor leaders, state and local officials, as well as members of Congress and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

    On Tuesday, Biden travels to New York City to discuss how Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding will improve the Hudson River Tunnel, which sees 200,000 passengers passing through each weekday on Amtrak and New Jersey Transit.

    On Friday, Biden and Harris are scheduled to travel to Philadelphia to discuss how Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding is removing lead pipes and ensuring clean water across Philadelphia and the country, the official told CNN.

    According to the White House, the pair “will discuss the progress we have made and their work implementing the Biden-Harris economic agenda that continues to deliver results for the American people.”

    Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge will also travel to Chicago to discuss progress made to address homelessness as a result of provisions within the American Rescue Plan, according to the official.

    While Biden has often embarked on domestic trips to highlight his policies in action, these stops have served as a significant messaging platform since Republicans took control of the House of Representatives this year.

    In a speech at a union hall in Virginia, Biden, for example, sought to contrast his economic policies with House Republicans’ effort in the debt limit standoff.

    He asked the crowd, “(Why) in God’s name would Americans give up the progress we’ve made for the chaos they’re suggesting?”

    “MAGA Republicans,” he added, “are literally choosing to inflict this pain on the American people.”

    Despite that heavy emphasis on his warnings about GOP plans, Biden this week is expected to hone in on his ability to work across the aisle to push legislation into law. Specifically, in a preview of the travel, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre underscored Biden’s “success (in) bringing Republicans and independents and Democrats together to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”

    In Baltimore on Monday, the president brought up his recent trip to Kentucky, where he stood alongside Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to herald the implementation of the massive $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that McConnell and 18 other Senate Republicans supported.

    The policy messaging trips also carry more weight as the prospect of a presidential reelection campaign looms large over the White House.

    Biden has been working intensively on his State of the Union Speech speech – including over the weekend – which his team views as a launching pad for the reelection bid. His speeches around the East Coast week will offer a preview of his message as he touts new infrastructure projects.

    Behind the scenes, aides are building up a campaign infrastructure and the West Wing is in the process of restructuring for a politically intense two years.

    Peppered in between stops to visit projects funded though the proposals which were the bedrock of his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden will participate in events that are part of an intense fundraising push ahead of the campaign announcement.

    The travel comes as Biden also contends with a number of simmering issues in Washington – House Republican probes, investigations into classified documents found at his residence and former office and the debt ceiling standoff. The US Treasury is already taking extraordinary measures to keep the government paying its bills after the US hit the debt ceiling set by Congress.

    While the president is in Washington on Wednesday in between travel stops, he’s scheduled to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

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  • Monterey Park hero and Tyre Nichols’ family invited to attend State of the Union address | CNN Politics

    Monterey Park hero and Tyre Nichols’ family invited to attend State of the Union address | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Lawmakers have invited the parents of Tyre Nichols and the man who disarmed a gunman in a Southern California mass shooting to attend President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on February 7.

    Nichols’ death days after being beaten by police in Memphis on January 7 and the mass shooting at a Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park on January 21 that killed 11 has outraged many Americans and brought renewed calls for sweeping gun and policing reform ahead of Biden’s address.

    Congressional Black Caucus executive director Vincent Evans tweeted on Sunday that the caucus chairman, Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford of Nevada, invited Nichols’ parents to Washington as guests of the caucus, and that they have accepted the invitation.

    CNN has reached out to Nichols’ family for comment.

    Brandon Tsay, who disarmed the Monterey Park gunman as he attempted to attack a second dance studio near Los Angeles, was invited to the speech by Democratic Rep. Judy Chu of California.

    Chu said Tsay’s story “was so amazing” that she called him to be her guest at the president’s address. But just one hour after Chu spoke with him, Biden called Tsay to personally offer his own invite, Chu said. The White House declined to comment on Sunday.

    Tsay, 26, was awarded a medal of courage from the Alhambra Police Department during a ceremony Sunday. Biden called him last week to thank him for his act of bravery, CNN previously reported.

    “I wanted to call to see how you’re doing and thank you for taking such incredible action in the face of danger,” Biden told Tsay. “I don’t think you understand just how much you’ve done for so many people who are never going to even know you. But I want them to know more about you.”

    In an interview on MSNBC on Sunday, Horsford said he called Nichols’ family to extend the invitation.

    “Earlier today, I spoke to the family of Tyre Nichols on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus to first extend our condolences to them, to let them know that we stand with them, to ask them what they want from us in this moment, to honor the legacy of their son, and to extend an invitation to them to be our guest at the State of the Union on February 7 so that we can make sure that this issue of police culture, culture of policing, which, unfortunately in this country has now contributed to countless deaths,” he said.

    Protesters took to the streets over the weekend to decry police brutality after the release of video depicting the violent police beating.

    Nichols, 29, could be heard yelling for his mother in the video, which begins with a traffic stop and goes on to show officers repeatedly beating him with batons, punching him and kicking him – including at one point while his hands were restrained behind his back.

    He was left slumped to the ground in handcuffs, and 23 minutes went by before a stretcher arrived at the scene. Nichols was eventually hospitalized and died three days later.

    Biden said in a statement he was “outraged and deeply pained” after seeing the video. “It is yet another painful reminder of the profound fear and trauma, the pain, and the exhaustion that Black and Brown Americans experience every single day.”

    The CBC is requesting a meeting with Biden this week to push for negotiations on police reform, Horsford said in a statement Sunday.

    “We are calling on our colleagues in the House and Senate to jumpstart negotiations now and work with us to address the public health epidemic of police violence that disproportionately affects many of our communities,” he wrote. “The brutal beating of Tyre Nichols was murder and is a grim reminder that we still have a long way to go in solving systemic police violence in America.”

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  • Biden will deliver State of the Union address on Feb. 7

    Biden will deliver State of the Union address on Feb. 7

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    President Biden has accepted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s invitation to deliver the State of the Union address on Feb. 7, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday. 

    “The president is grateful for and accepts Speaker McCarthy’s prompt invitation to address the peoples’ representatives in Congress,” she said in a statement. “He looks forward to speaking with Republicans, Democrats, and the country about how we can work together to continue building an economy that works from the bottom up and the middle out, keep boosting our competitiveness in the world, keep the American people safe, and bring the country together.”

    McCarthy sent a formal invitation to the president on Friday. It will be Mr. Biden’s second State of the Union address, given that his address in 2021 wasn’t officially a State of the Union address.  

    “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 wrote in his invitation. “The American people sent us to Washington to deliver a new direction for the country, to find common ground, and to debate their priorities. In that spirit, it is my solemn obligation to invite you to speak before a Joint Session of Congress on Tuesday, February 7, 2023, so that you may fulfill your duty under the Constitution to report on the state of the union.” 

    The address comes after a lengthy House speaker election last week, as well as the announcement this week of a special counsel inquiry into documents marked classified that were found at Mr. Biden’s home and former office at a Washington think tank bearing his name. 

    Kathryn Watson


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    Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital based in Washington, D.C.

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