NOTE: A live video of the the speech will be available in the player above beginning at 8 p.m. CST
Across the U.S., Americans will be watching President Joe Biden deliver his second State of the Union address Tuesday night.
His speech before a politically divided Congress comes as the nation struggles to make sense of confounding cross-currents at home and abroad — economic uncertainty, a wearying war in Ukraine, growing tensions with China among them — and warily sizes up Biden's fitness for a likely reelection bid.
The annual speech typically provides a president with his single largest audience of the year, usually in the tens of millions. An estimated 38.2 million TV viewers watched Biden’s first State of the Union address in 2022, according to Nielsen ratings.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter here.
The setting for Biden's speech will look markedly different from a year ago, when it was Democratic stalwart Nancy Pelosi seated behind him as House speaker. She's been replaced by Republican Kevin McCarthy, and it's unclear what kind of reception restive Republicans in the chamber will give the Democratic president.
There will also be a special local guest in attendance.
Here’s what you should know if you're planning to watch Biden's State of the Union address, scheduled for 8 p.m. CST.
Where do I watch or listen?
The speech is set for 8 p.m. CST and will be broadcast by the major networks and cable news TV channels, including NBC. Tune in on television or check back here or on Peacock to watch a livesteam.
The White House plans to stream it at WH.gov/live, as well as on its YouTube, Facebook and Twitter pages. Live radio coverage will also be provided by C-SPAN Radio.
What will Biden talk about?
President Joe Biden is ready to offer a reassuring assessment of the nation's condition rather than roll out flashy policy proposals as he delivers his second State of the Union address seeking to overcome pessimism in the country and concerns about his own leadership.
The president will stand at the House rostrum at a time when just a quarter of U.S. adults say things in the country are headed in the right direction, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About three-quarters say things are on the wrong track. And a majority of Democrats don’t want Biden to seek another term.
Biden will aim to confront those sentiments head on, aides said, while at the same time trying to avoid sounding insensitive to Americans’ concerns.
While hopes for large-scale bipartisanship are slim, Biden was to reissue his 2022 appeal for Congress to get behind his “unity agenda” of actions to address the opioid epidemic, mental health, veterans’ health and fighting cancer. He was to announce new executive initiatives and call for lawmakers to act to support new measures to support cancer research, address housing needs and suicide among veterans, boost access to mental health care, and move to further crack down on deadly trafficking in fentanyl.
The White House said the president would call for extending the new $35 per month price cap on insulin for people on Medicare to everyone in the country. He would also push Congress to quadruple the one percent tax on corporate share buybacks that was enacted in Democrats' climate and health care bill passed last year known as the Inflation Reduction Act.
While COVID-19 has eased at home, Biden will turn his sights to other national ills, including the deadly opioid epidemic, gun violence and police abuses.
How will Republicans respond?
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has the assignment. Huckabee was previously a White House spokeswoman under former President Donald Trump.
Sanders, the first woman elected governor of Arkansas, said she relished the opportunity to contrast the GOP’s vision for the future against that of Biden and his fellow Democrats, and is expected to focus on cultural touchstones, where the GOP has gained ground among conservative voters.
“We are ready to begin a new chapter in the story of America — to be written by a new generation of leaders,” she said.
The daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sanders has signed several executive orders that have been cheered by conservatives since taking office last month. They include restrictions on public schools teaching critical race theory and a ban on TikTok on state devices.
What about the First Lady?
Jill Biden will take her customary seat in the gallery overlooking the House chamber with a group of in-person guests.
Rock star Bono, the 26-year-old who disarmed a gunman in last month's Monterey Park, California, shooting, and the family of Tyre Nichols will be among the featured guests sitting alongside the first lady at Tuesday's State of the Union address.
But a Chicago-area high schooler will also be among the guests. That person is Kate Foley of Rolling Meadows, Illinois - a 10th grade student looking to use the skills from her school engineering classes to pursue a career as a biomedical engineer.
She first met the First Lady in 2022 when Biden visited Rolling Meadows High School to highlight the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to strengthening our economy and building pathways from high school to good-paying jobs, through career-connected learning.
