Biden s first joint address to Congress: A historic backdrop and sparse crowd washingtonpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtonpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
It is appropriate, really, that our empty suit of a president will deliver his first speech to Congress to a mostly empty chamber. Joe Biden will look out to a sea of empty seats, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. It makes one ponder – why is he even going through with the exercise?
Biden will speak to an in-person audience of only about 200 people. Traditionally, a joint address to Congress is delivered by a president in the first year of his term, at the invitation of the Speaker of the House. Next year, he will deliver a State of the Union address. Though a speech is not required, one has been delivered in person since Woodrow Wilson’s presidency in 1913. Presidents take advantage of a congressional audience to try to garner support for their agendas. This year, with the country so deeply divided, there is little hope that Biden will change anyone’s mind about anything. The address is being delivered late this year. Since 1934, it has been deliver
Skip to main content
Currently Reading
Biden will close the first chapter of his presidency before a sparse crowd - and with a historic backdrop
Matt Viser, The Washington Post
April 24, 2021
FacebookTwitterEmail
Vice President Joe Biden arrives in the chamber at the U.S. Capitol where President Barack Obama will deliver his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress, on Jan. 28, 2014 in Washington, DC.Washington Post photo by Bill O Leary.
WASHINGTON - For eight years, Joe Biden was a fixture at President Barack Obama s addresses inside the House chamber, a near-constant part of the tableau. He winked. He pointed. He gripped the House speaker s arm. He smiled, and he clapped with gusto.
Roughly 200 people will be allowed in the chamber in total, according to a Capitol official involved in the planning, though a final number has not been decided. House members and senators will be seated on the House floor and gallery to accommodate more people.
The event will also be designated a National Special Security Event, the official said, which means that it will include special security measures implemented by U.S. Secret Service.
ADVERTISEMENT
The U.S. Capitol has been on a heightened security posture in the wake of the Jan. 6 assault, and security concerns are sure to factor into the decisions regarding Wednesday’s address.