GOP Begins Planning for SOTU Response

(FeaturedHeadlines.com) – US President Joe Biden will deliver his annual State of the Union (SOTU) speech to lawmakers on March 7, in which he is expected to raise numerous domestic and foreign policy issues facing the United States. The Republican Party is preparing to respond to the public address with a message of its own from US Senator Katie Britt.

Outgoing US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson selected Britt to deliver the Republican response to Biden’s SOTU. Britt, the first woman to represent the state of Alabama in the US Senate, is an “unapologetic optimist,” McConnell said.

Britt is a champion of national defense, border security, and economic prosperity, Johnson said. Britt is the only Senate Republican with school-aged kids, as well as the youngest woman ever to serve in the upper chamber of Congress, Johnson added.

Britt said that she is honored and grateful for the chance to deliver the Republican response. The response will feature a “candid conversation” about the future of the United States, Britt said.

Biden is expected to raise issues, including the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel, tax reform, and healthcare costs. Biden’s speech will likely compare and contrast his own positions from those of his tentative 2024 campaign rival, Donald Trump.

Moreover, Biden will use the SOTU as an attempt to reassure voters of his competence amid concerns about his age heading into a potential second term in office. The SOTU is set to be Biden’s biggest public audience ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August.

The SOTU will take place in the chamber of the US House of Representatives, where lawmakers are working to keep the federal government funded before a March 8 partial shutdown deadline. On February 29, the US Congress passed a stopgap funding measure, which keeps part of the federal government funded through March 8, and a second portion funded through March 22.

Although Biden’s SOTU could help sway lawmakers to continue funding Biden’s federal bureaucracy, Britt’s response speech may also serve as a reminder of what the US could look like under Republican leadership.

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