On March 1, President Joe Biden will give his first State of the Union address

President Joe Biden will deliver his first State of the Union address on March 1, the White House announced on Friday, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi extended a formal invitation to the president to speak to Congress and the American people one year into his presidency.

It will be the most recent State of the Union address given by any president. The address is usually scheduled for January, however it can also be scheduled for February. A hectic legislative calendar, a winter spike in Covid-19 cases from the more transmissible Omicron form, and the forthcoming Winter Olympics, which ties up broadcast network time, are all contributing to the delay.

On the eve of his acquittal by the Senate in his first impeachment trial, then-President Donald Trump gave his final State of the Union address.

Joe Biden spoke to a joint session of Congress for the first time in April 2021, approximately 100 days after taking office, to endorse twin infrastructure and domestic spending initiatives. Last year, Biden signed a slimmed-down and bipartisan version of the infrastructure programme into law, capping a year of legislative accomplishments. The House enacted a broader expansion of the social safety net, but Biden has struggled to get enough Democratic votes in the Senate to pass it.

Because of rigorous Covid-19 regulations, Biden's April speech bore little similarity to a formal State of the Union address given to Congress during the president's first year. It was distinguished by strict attendance restrictions, with no visitors permitted and MPs sat on both the House chamber floor and the galleries above. Officials stated that pandemic measures for this year's speech are still being worked out, but that it will resemble a conventional State of the Union address rather than last year's.

"Thank you for your bold vision and patriotic leadership which have guided America out of crisis and into an era of great progress, as we not only recover from the pandemic but Build Back Better!," Pelosi wrote in her letter to Biden. "In that spirit, I am writing to invite you to address a Joint Session of Congress on Tuesday, March 1, to share your vision of the State of the Union."