President Joe Biden is delivering his second State of the Union address. His previous State of the Union came a year earlier when Democrats held both the House and Senate. This time he is speaking in front of a House against his agenda.
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White House officials said the speech would focus on bipartisanship while touting the administration’s economic achievements.
The speech would be followed by a rebuttal by newly elected Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Republicans are listening carefully
Before heading into the House chambers, newly elected Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, told Scripps News he hoped Biden would address the economic anxiety felt by many Americans. Although the US unemployment rate is at its lowest level in five decades, inflation and interest rates remain high. a cbs news poll Data released this week indicated that nearly two out of three Americans believe the US economy is in bad shape.
Vance also said he would like to hear the president talk about a plan to stop the flow of fentanyl into the US.
While the White House has emphasized bipartisanship as a major theme in Tuesday’s address, Vance is concerned about Biden’s posture on talks on the debt ceiling. Republicans want to negotiate spending cuts as well as raising the US debt ceiling. Biden wants to put those issues aside.
“One of the things that concerns me is the president’s posture at this point is that we are not going to negotiate the debt ceiling, we are not going to negotiate the budgetary picture in the United States,” Vance said. “It’s not the right thing to do. The American public doesn’t want that. We need a president to negotiate with Republicans.
NEW: Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) tells @ScrippsNews He obeys the President. Trump is still the leader of the GOP and “a guy that a lot of people look up to.”
Watch our interview with JD Vance here: pic.twitter.com/nX3sDsI4Tz
— Nathaniel Reed (@ReedReports) February 8, 2023
This story will be updated during Biden’s address.
