House speaker invites Biden to deliver State of the Union on March 7

Avie Schneider

January 06, 2024 / 7:14 am

caption: President Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 7, 2023.

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Saturday invited President Biden to address a joint session of Congress on March 7.

"In this moment of great challenge for our country, it is my solemn duty to extend this invitation for you to address a Joint Session of Congress on Thursday, March 7, 2024, so that you may fulfill your obligation under the U.S. Constitution to report on the state of our union," Johnson wrote in a letter to Biden.

It would be Johnson's first time to sit behind the president as speaker during a joint session. The Louisiana Republican was elected to the speakership in October.

The addresses are usually delivered in January or February, but in 2022, Biden gave his State of the Union on March 1.

With potential federal shutdowns looming, Congress faces two government funding deadlines, Jan. 19 and Feb. 2, as well as calls by the president to provide military aid to Ukraine and Israel. [Copyright 2024 NPR]