The pressure will be on President Joe Biden Tuesday night as he delivers his State of the Union speech to an anxious nation while trying to increase his tanking poll numbers and reboot his domestic agenda.
Washington D.C. is bracing for protests as Biden outlines his vision for Americans, who have been made weary by the covid pandemic, worried about prices amid record high inflation and rattled by Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats.
Biden’s approval rating has hit one of the lowest point of his presidency, with only 37% saying they approve of the job he is doing, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Sunday with 55% disapproving.
More troubling, 54% say the economy is worse off under Biden and 36% say that they are personally in worse off.
And 61% of Americans said Biden has not kept most of his promises, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll.
Meanwhile 36% of voters told a CBS News poll that things in American are going ‘very badly’ and only 27% said things were going ‘somewhat well.’ And 63% described the economy as ‘bad.’
The US Capitol is seen through a temporary security fence installed and Washington D.C. braces for protests tied around President Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday night
A National Guard vehicle is seen near the White House – D.C. National Guard is on duty while police from New York and Philadelphia came to Washington to help with security
The chamber of the House of Representatives where Biden will make his remarks, face masks will be optional under new CDC rules
In the House chamber on Tuesday night, face masks are optional under new, relaxed CDC guidelines but attandance will still be limited: All members of Congress are allowed to attend this year as opposed to the 200 who were in the chamber for Biden’s Joint Address to Congress in April 2021. No lawmaker will be allowed to bring a guest, however.
Also expected to attend are six of the nine Supreme Court justices, after only one was invited the April speech. And about 20 Cabinet officials are scheduled to attend. First lady Jill Biden’s box could include up to eight guests, a person with knowledge of the planning told The Washington Post.
All those who attend will be required to take a covid test beforehand.
Meanwhile, temporary steel fencing wrapped the four acre Capitol Hill complex and military vehicles patrolled the streets as the city braces for trucker protests who are angry about face mask mandates and covid restrictions.
The D.C. National Guard is on standby. On Monday a busload of about 100 police officers from New York City arrived. Police from Philadelphia are also on hand and Baltimore officers are on standby.
‘While there is a possibility that some may come to our city with the intent of going beyond what is allowed as a constitutional right and seek to engage in unlawful acts or acts of civil disobedience, it is my hope that guests to our city will abide by the laws of the District of Columbia,’ D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III said. ‘I want to be very clear that we are prepared to take swift law enforcement actions for violations of our local and federal laws if necessary.’
One group has filed a permit with the National Park Service for a protest next to the Washington Monument on March 1 – the day Biden delivers his address. The permit originally claimed it could have up to 3,000 demonstrators in support of the Canadian trucker protests.
By Monday, the estimated number of participants had dropped to 500 for the demonstration from noon to 8 p.m. that will include speeches, music and prayer, according to the issued permit.
Biden addresses the nation at 9 p.m. ET.
The People’s Convoy, another protest group, left Southern California on Wednesday but aren’t expected to arrive in the D.C. area until March 5.
President Biden will address the economy, record high inflation and the situation in the Ukraine in his remarks
The sun rises above the U.S. Capitol dome ahead of Biden’s speech
A truck is used to control access to roads near the US Capitol
A woman walks her baby past a military vehicle prepositioned ahead of potential trucker convoys and heightened security before the State of the Union on Capitol Hill
U.S. Capitol police officers gather on the east front plaza of the Capitol
The president originally intended to focus on his legislative agenda, economic plans and the covid pandemic in his remarks but Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine caused a pivot.
Biden will discuss the administration’s work to help the Ukraine and its efforts to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin through sanctions.
‘I think people can expect to hear him position that as the importance of the United States as a leader in the world, of standing up for values, standing up for global norms,’ White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday.
The speech comes as his signature Build Back Better bill is stalled in the Senate and all but dead after Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin declined to support it, citing concerns about its clost.
Biden is expected to push a feel-good message on the economy, pointing to the record low unemployment rate, rising wages and the creation of more than six million jobs since he took office.
But that message is tempered by the high costs for goods and services: inflation is at a record-high 7.5% in the United States.
He will use the word ‘inflation’ in his remarks.
‘The president will absolutely use the word inflation tomorrow and he will talk about inflation in his speech of course that is a huge issue on the minds of Americans,’ Psaki said.
Specifically, Biden will call on Congress to increase the maximum Pell Grant award by $2,000, raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, and create a national paid family-leave program.
Biden will also push Congress to pass reforms on housing, education and climate under a four-point plan that will focus on ‘making more things in America’; reducing costs of everyday expenses; ‘promoting fair competition’; and ‘eliminating barriers to good-paying jobs,’ according to a fact sheet from the administration.
Many of his ideas will mirror those in Build Back Better, his approximately $2 trillion social services legislation.
But the name of his signature legislation may not come up.
‘It’s not about the name of the bill,’ said a senior administration official Monday on a briefing call with reporters. ‘It’s about the ideas. It’s about lowering costs for families.’
Biden will also pitch a ‘unity agenda,’ senior administration officials said on Tuesday, focusing on areas of policy ‘where there has historically been support from both Republicans and Democrats.’
The president will release a strategy to address the mental health crisis in the country, blaming the crisis on social media platforms.
But officials wouldn’t say if the president will push for penalities on massive companies like Twitter and Facebook.
‘The president believes tech companies should be held accountable for for the harms they cause,’ the official said but didn’t give more details.
Biden will also push the Senate to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. He nominated her last week.
He will also address the covid pandemic, pointing out where the country is compared to where it was a year ago.
The pandemic is one area where voters give Biden consistently high marks – although Americans are also expressing a weariness with face mask requirements and other mandates meant to help stop the spread of the disease.
