Speaker Johnson calls for House members to "turn the temperature down" on heckling at State of the Union
Audio
Audio
Follow CNN Politics
live news

Live

Trump's hush money trial

live news

Live

Israel-Hamas war

President Biden's 2024 State of the Union address

By Elise Hammond, Tori B. Powell, Michael Williams, Maureen Chowdhury, Antoinette Radford, Aditi Sangal, Kyle Feldscher and Shania Shelton, CNN

Updated 10:46 AM ET, Sat March 9, 2024
6 Posts
Sort byDropdown arrow
9:58 a.m. ET, March 7, 2024

Speaker Johnson calls for House members to "turn the temperature down" on heckling at State of the Union

From CNN's Avery Lotz

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks during a news conference at the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks during a news conference at the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Alex Wong/Getty Images

House Speaker Mike Johnson says he has sent a "very clear" message to House members ahead of this year's State of the Union, telling them to "turn the temperature down."

In recent years, the speech has erupted into boos and heckling. Last year, Republicans repeatedly heckled President Joe Biden during his address, ignoring the occasional shushes from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“I do think we need to get back to decorum and respect the institution, and I’ve been trying to model that myself,” he said.

“I’ll probably disagree with almost everything President Biden says tonight,” he said, “but we have to respect this institution and respect the people and have an honest dialogue about how to move forward, and I think we can in the days ahead.”

9:11 a.m. ET, March 7, 2024

Alabama Sen. Katie Britt will deliver GOP response to Biden's address

From CNN's Kristin Wilson and Kaanita Iyer

Sen. Katie Britt walks to a luncheon with Senate Republicans at the US Capitol Building on February 27 in Washington, DC.
Sen. Katie Britt walks to a luncheon with Senate Republicans at the US Capitol Building on February 27 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Alabama Sen. Katie Britt will deliver the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s upcoming State of the Union address, according to the House speaker’s office.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Thursday that Britt will deliver the response on March 7, shortly after Biden’s remarks before a joint session of Congress. The GOP leaders touted Britt as a leading voice in a new generation of Republican lawmakers.

“Senator Katie Britt is an unapologetic optimist, and as one of our nation’s youngest Senators, she’s wasted no time becoming a leading voice in the fight to secure a stronger American future and leave years of Washington Democrats’ failures behind,” McConnell said in a statement.

Britt made history with her win in 2022, becoming the first woman elected to the Senate from Alabama. She succeeded retiring Republican Sen. Richard Shelby, whom she previously served as chief of staff.

Britt said she was “grateful” for the opportunity to deliver the response, adding in a post on X that she will “outline the Republican vision to secure the American Dream for generations to come.”

9:24 a.m. ET, March 7, 2024

Speaker Johnson announces full list of GOP State of the Union guests

From CNN's Haley Talbot

Speaker Mike Johnson announced his full guest list for the State of the Union this evening, using the platform to highlight issues including immigration, crime, Israel, the fentanyl crisis and more.

Here's who they are, according to a statement released by Johnson:

  • Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich are the parents of Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter currently imprisoned in Russia.
  • NYPD Lt. Ben Kurian and Officer Zunxu Tian are two New York City police officers attacked in January outside a migrant shelter.
  • Darin Hoover is the father Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin “Taylor” Hoover and Alicia Lopez is the mother of Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez. Hoover and Lopez were killed in the attack at an airport in Kabul in August 2021 as US troops were withdrawing from Afghanistan.
  • Orna and Daniel Neutra are the mother and son of Omer Neutra – an American citizen serving in the Israeli Defense Forces who was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
  • Mia Schem is a French-Israeli citizen who was attacked and kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 while attending a music festival. She was held captive for 54 days in Gaza before being released in December. 
  • Kristina Gill is the wife of Mike Gill, a former official in former President Donald Trump's administration, who was recently killed after a carjacking in Washington, DC.
  • Riley Gaines is a former University of Kentucky swimmer who is known for her views opposing the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports.
  • Janet Durig is the executive director of the Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center.
  • Tammy Nobles is the mother of 20-year-old Kayla Hamilton, who was murdered by an alleged MS-13 gang member.
  • Stefanie Turner is the mother of Tucker Roe, a 19 year-old who died of fentanyl poisoning.
  • Ketsia, Miriam, and Caleb Corbett are the children of Ryan Corbett, an American who has been held hostage by the Taliban since August 2022.
  • Talia Khan is a Jewish Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate student in mechanical engineering who spoke out in the fall of 2023 about rising antisemitism on college campuses.
  • Chloe Cole is an 18-year-old from California who speaks against gender-affirming treatment for adolescents.
  • Enes Freedom is an NBA veteran who, after criticizing the Turkish government, was made a political pariah and had a bounty placed on him by the government.
  • Dr. Wayne D. Lewis, Jr. is the president of Houghton University in Houghton, New York who advocates against the inclusion of biological males in women’s athletics.
  • Jonathan Wheelis is an employee with Chesapeake Energy’s Haynesville asset in northern Louisiana, where he oversees more than 1,000 wells, multiple field offices, and dozens of employees.
  • Pastor John Fream is the pastor of Cypress Baptist Church in Benton, Louisiana.

9:11 a.m. ET, March 7, 2024

What to watch for in Biden's State of the Union address

From CNN's Michael Williams

President Joe Biden on Thursday will address Congress and the American people in what could be the most consequential speech of his presidency, seeking to boast about his first term while also warning the country about what he views as a ruinous threat to its very existence.

While State of the Union addresses have typically been opportunities for presidents to present themselves at their most bridge-building and presidential, the primary results on Super Tuesday, which effectively consolidated the 2024 campaign into a two-man race, gives this year’s speech a political hue.

Here's what to watch for in the president's speech:

Touting his economic record, even if Americans aren’t perceiving a windfall

The United States economy has outperformed experts’ expectations since a year ago, when many economists thought it would be undergoing a recession right now. That hasn’t happened for a variety of reasons. It’s not looking like it will anytime soon either with an unemployment rate that’s stayed below 4% for the past 24 months. But Americans aren’t feeling so optimistic. In survey after survey, they’ve conveyed strong disapproval of the state of the economy, something Biden has struggled to wrap his head around. Inflation is at the core of their consternation.

Failed border deal and abortion rights provide a contrast with Trump

Following the failure, at Trump’s urging, of a bipartisan deal that would have included significant border concessions from Biden, the president promised to make his case directly to the American people – blaming Trump directly for an issue that many Americans say is their top concern heading into November.

Biden will have his largest platform yet to do so on Thursday.

Here's a glimpse of what else to expect in this evening's speech.

9:11 a.m. ET, March 7, 2024

Key issues Biden is expected to bring up in tonight's speech

From CNN's Arlette Saenz, Kevin Liptak and MJ Lee

President Joe Biden speaks during an event at the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House on October 23, 2023, in Washington, DC. 
President Joe Biden speaks during an event at the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House on October 23, 2023, in Washington, DC.  Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

President Joe Biden is giving his State of the Union address tonight, a high-stakes moment as he looks to convince voters to give him a second term in the White House.

Here's a look at some of the topics and themes that could come up tonight:

  • Economic issues: Biden and his team have been drafting a speech heavy on economic populism, aides said, with calls for higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy – an attempt to draw a sharp contrast with Republicans and their likely presidential nominee, Donald Trump.
  • Health care expenses: Biden will also push for lowering health care costs and discuss his efforts to go after drug manufacturers to lower the cost of prescription medications — all issues his advisers believe can help buoy what have been sagging economic approval ratings.
  • Israel's war with Hamas: Also looming large over Biden’s primetime address is the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, which has consumed much of the president’s time and attention over the past few months. The president’s top national security advisers have been working around the clock to try to finalize a ceasefire-hostages release deal by Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that begins next week.
  • An argument for reelection: Aides view Thursday’s speech as a critical opportunity for the president to tout his accomplishments in office and lay out his plans for another four years in the nation’s top job. Even though viewership has declined over the years, the yearly speech reliably draws tens of millions of households.
10:16 a.m. ET, March 7, 2024

Why presidents deliver a State of the Union address

From CNN's Ethan Cohen and Melissa Holzberg DePalo 

President Biden will deliver his third State of the Union on Thursday in front of a divided Congress. It's Biden's last State of the Union before the 2024 presidential election where he will likely face a rematch with former President Donald Trump.

The US Constitution requires the president to brief Congress on the state of the union. Article II, Section 3, of the Constitution says:

"He (the President]) shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient."

Some historical background: The idea for a State of the Union address originated from a ritual from the British monarchy. The king or queen gives a speech from the throne at the opening session of the British Parliament.

The US State of the Union address used to be known as "the President's Annual Message to Congress." Franklin Roosevelt titled his 1934 speech, "Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union," according to his papers.

According to the House Clerk's office, the speech was informally referred to as "the State of the Union" from 1942 to 1946. It was first officially called the "State of the Union" address in 1947 under Harry Truman.

George Washington delivered the first "annual message" on January 8, 1790, at Federal Hall in New York. 

Additional context: Even though Biden gave an address to a joint session of Congress in 2021, it was not called the State of the Union. Since 1977, new presidents have not called their first speech before a joint session of Congress a “State of the Union.” They are often referred to as an “annual message” or a message/address on a particular topic.