Politics

(WASHINGTON) — The nation and the world will be watching tonight when President Joe Biden delivers his first State of the Union address at 9 p.m. ET with a main focus expected to be on how he and the U.S. are responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

As he is set to speak, Russian strikes are killing civilians, forces are massing near Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and Russian President Vladimir Putin shows no sign of backing down.

Biden is expected to highlight his leadership in the allied response and call on Americans to deal with higher gasoline prices in order to help defend democracy.

On the domestic front, he will also address the inflation that is driving his job approval rating at just 37% and highlight progress in dealing with the pandemic that allows many mask mandates to be dropped, including, symbolically, in the House chamber as he makes his high-profile speech.

Latest headlines:

• Biden on his plan to fight inflation
• Biden to say war in Ukraine was ‘premeditated and unprovoked,’ highlight strong NATO alliance
• Biden to signal new phase in pandemic
• Iowa Gov. Reynolds to deliver GOP response
• Biden says he’ll discuss ‘determination’ to keep allies on same page over Russian sanctions

Here is how the news is developing today. All times Eastern. Check back for updates.

Mar 01, 7:17 pm
Biden to announce new ‘test-to-treat’ program for COVID-19 pills

The president will announce a new “test-to-treat program” for COVID-19 during his State of the Union address tonight, his chief of staff said during an interview on CNN.

“Because we’re getting millions of these new Pfizer pills, we’ll be able to test people in drugstores, and if they test positive, immediately give them medicine that prevents hospitalization, free of charge,” Ron Klain said.

“And so we’re taking the next steps to make sure that COVID does not control our lives, that we can get this country closer to being back to normal,” he added.

Klain did not give any more details on how the program would work, such as if people would need a prescription.

The Biden administration has purchased 20 million doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 oral therapy, Paxlovid, although the pill is not expected to be widely available until later this spring. The current plan calls for gradually ramping up to 10 million doses by the end of June and another 10 million by the end of September.

-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson and Anne Flaherty

Mar 01, 7:15 pm
Biden seen in Ukrainian colors ahead of address

Hours before delivering his first State of the Union address, Biden was photographed sporting a blue and yellow tie, the colors of Ukraine.

Biden was wearing the tie while on a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “to discuss our continued support for Ukraine” amid Russian aggression, he said in a Twitter post.

It is unclear what the president will ultimately wear during his address, though several members of Congress have announced plans to wear blue and yellow ribbons in support of Ukraine.

Mar 01, 5:57 pm
House Republicans: ‘The State of the Union is in crisis’

Ahead Biden’s first State of the Union address, House Republicans claimed the “state of our union is in a crisis,” which they say is directly caused by Biden and House Democrats’ “failed far-left socialist agenda.”

“Tonight, President Biden will try to rewrite history of the past year and pass the buck instead of taking responsibility for the failures of his radical far-left Democrat agenda,” the third-ranking House Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik said at a press briefing Tuesday.

Republicans are holding Biden personally responsible for several issues, from inflation to high gas prices to supply chain issues to the invasion of Ukraine.

“The war on Ukraine represents one of the greatest foreign policy failures in modern history,” Stefanik said. “For months, President Biden failed to engage in meaningful deterrence against Russian aggression.”

Ukrainian-American Rep. Victoria Spartz gave an emotional plea calling for the Biden administration to do more to help Ukraine.

“This is not a war, this is a genocide of the Ukrainian people,” Spartz, who represents Indiana, told reporters. “They want to be free people. They want to be with the West.”

-ABC News’ Mariam Khan

Mar 01, 5:52 pm
Biden on his plan to fight inflation

Biden will discuss his plan to fight inflation, which he says will aim to lower both costs and the deficit, according to an excerpt of his State of the Union address released by the White House.

“We have a choice. One way to fight inflation is to drive down wages and make Americans poorer. I have a better plan to fight inflation,” he said in the prepared remarks.

“Lower your costs, not your wages. Make more cars and semiconductors in America. More infrastructure and innovation in America. More goods moving faster and cheaper in America. More jobs where you can earn a good living in America. And, instead of relying on foreign supply chains — let’s make it in America,” the speech continues.

“Economists call it ‘increasing the productive capacity of our economy,'” the president said in the prepared remarks. “I call it building a better America.”

Mar 01, 5:45 pm
Biden to say war in Ukraine was ‘premeditated and unprovoked,’ highlight strong NATO alliance

Biden will call out Russian President Vladimir Putin by name in his State of the Union address, saying that Putin’s actions in Ukraine have solidified the NATO alliance, according to an excerpt of his prepared remarks released by the White House.

“Putin’s war was premeditated and unprovoked. He rejected efforts at diplomacy. He thought the West and NATO wouldn’t respond. And, he thought he could divide us here at home,” Biden is expected to say. “Putin was wrong. We were ready.”

-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez

Mar 01, 5:39 pm
Biden to signal new phase in pandemic

President Joe Biden tonight will shy away from any suggestion of “mission accomplished” when it comes to the pandemic, or even that the virus had morphed into an “endemic” state — a term reserved to describe a virus that persists but is mostly predictable — a White House official told ABC News.

Instead, the official described the president’s speech as noting the nation is now able to “move forward safely in a way in which COVID no longer disrupts our lives the way it has previously.”

The president also will “emphasize the need for the U.S. to remain vigilant in the face of an unpredictable virus, including by preparing for future variants,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss details in advance of the speech.

-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty

Mar 01, 4:56 pm
Manchin, hours before, reiterates ‘There is no Build Back Better,’ wants Biden to address inflation

In advance of tonight’s speech, Sen. Joe Manchin reiterated his long-held view that has blocked Biden’s domestic agenda, saying, “There is no Build Back Better.”

“What we should be looking at is what we can do and what we have done,” the West Virginia Democrat said.

He told reporters he wants Biden to talk about inflation and about energy independence instead.

“Inflation is basically destroying the country as we know it from the standpoint of making it harder on the people they were trying to help — so we have to get energy under control,” Manchin said. “And next of all, be energy independent. Putin has weaponized energy, so shouldn’t we be using energy to counter what he’s been doing?”

-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin

Mar 01, 3:14 pm
Biden to stress leadership on Ukraine

President Joe Biden’s 9 p.m. ET speech, to be carried live on national television and seen around the world, will be delivered just days after Russia invaded Ukraine — and days after he nominated the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court.

But he’ll also be speaking to Americans suffering from historic inflation as the nation continues to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.

With his job approval at an all-time low of 37%, Biden faces the difficult task of balancing their pain with his desire to reap the political benefits of his legislative wins so far — a massive COVID relief package and a once-in-a-generation investment in the nation’s infrastructure — while also demonstrating his leadership on one of the greatest threats to European stability since World War II.

-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(AUSTIN, Texas) — The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department for Family and Protective Services and Governor Greg Abbott for implementing a directive to investigate parents that provide gender-affirming care to transgender children.

In a Feb. 22 letter, Abbott ordered the DFPS to investigate gender-affirming care among youths in the state following an official declaration from state Attorney General Ken Paxton who also called it “child abuse.”

The DFPS promptly announced that it would comply with Paxton and Abbott’s directive. The department told ABC affiliate KVUE there were no investigations into such alleged “child abuse” before Abbott’s directive.

DFPS Commissioner Jaime Masters is also listed as a defendant in the complaint.

Representatives for DFPS, Masters and Abbott did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.

The lawsuit, led by the ACLU and Lambda Legal, calls the move “lawless and dangerous.”

According to the complaint, Jane Doe, a DFPS employee, allegedly “was placed on leave from her employment because she has a transgender daughter with a medical need for treatment of gender dysphoria.”

Following the issuance of the gender-affirming care directive, Jane Doe had allegedly asked for clarification from her supervisor about how the Abbott letter would affect DFPS policy, the complaint read.

Jane and John Doe are the parents of 16-year-old Mary Doe, who is transgender.

According to the ACLU’s complaint, “some doctors and other providers have discontinued prescribing medically necessary treatment for gender dysphoria to transgender youth” as a result of Abbott’s directive.

“The actions taken by Defendants have already caused severe and irreparable harm to families across the state of Texas, including the Doe family, and have put medical and mental health providers in the impossible position of either following their legal and ethical professional responsibilities or facing criminal prosecution or civil and professional repercussions under Texas law,” the complaint reads.

The Texas legislature has previously tried to limit gender-affirming care and legally declare it “child abuse” but it has failed to pass any of its bills into law.

“There is no doubt that these procedures are ‘abuse’ under Texas law, and thus must be halted,” Paxton said previously in a statement.

He added, “The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has a responsibility to act accordingly. I’ll do everything I can to protect against those who take advantage of and harm young Texans.”

Organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychological Association, Texas Pediatric Society, National Association of Social Workers and more have denounced the governor’s directive.

“This harmful directive leaves families seeking gender-affirming care in Texas with nowhere to turn,” Moira Szilagyi, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in a statement following Abbott’s announcement. “Pediatricians could be investigated for child abuse by simply providing evidence-based, medically necessary services. Gender affirming care is not abuse. Politics has no place in the exam room. All children deserve access to the care they need.”

Five Texas district attorneys also pushed back on Abbott’s directive in a signed letter, saying they “will not irrationally and unjustifiably interfere with medical decisions made between children, their parents, and their medical physicians.”

The White House has also slammed Abbott’s decisions.

“The Texas Attorney General’s attack on loving parents who seek medical care for their transgender children is dangerous to the health of kids in Texas and part of much larger trend of conservative officials cynically attacking LGBTQI+ youth to score political points,” a White House spokesperson told ABC News last week.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — While President Joe Biden is laying out his agenda for the U.S., he and some members of Congress will be sending a message of support to Ukraine as it fights back invading Russian forces.

Several House and Senate members will be wearing a ribbon in the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag on their congressional pins during the speech.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be wearing a pin with a combination of the Ukrainian and U.S. flag.

Some of those in Congress will demonstrate their support beyond their lapels.

Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., sported a blue suit and yellow blouse on Tuesday. She told reporters that more members will be wearing those colors during the president’s speech.

“We must do everything we can to preserve our democracies from those that wish to hurt them,” Bustos tweeted.

Earlier in the day, the White House tweeted a photo of Biden on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Biden wore a blue and yellow tie.

There will be at least one Ukrainian official on hand during the president’s remarks, according to the White House.

First lady Jill Biden invited Oksana Markarova, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, as a guest. She will be sitting in the viewing box with the first lady; the second gentleman, Douglas Emhoff; the president’s sister, Valerie Biden Owens; and eight other VIPs.

ABC News’ Mariam Khan and Devin Dwyer contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address will be a remarkable scene: A maskless president speaking to more than 500 invited lawmakers packed cheek-to-jowl in the historic House chamber, also allowed to go without masks so long as they got tested first.

Case numbers and hospitalization levels have plummeted. Three-fourths of U.S. adults are now fully vaccinated with a growing number of people getting boosted. Rapid tests are finally widely available. And life-saving therapeutics including new anti-viral pills are growing in supply.

With such optimism on public display, Biden’s address will signal a new phase in the pandemic. It also will be a tacit acknowledgement that the virus, at any moment, could come roaring back to life.

Officials told ABC News that Biden on Tuesday would shy away from any suggestion of “mission accomplished” or even that the virus had morphed into an “endemic” state — a term reserved to describe a virus that persists but is mostly predictable.

Instead, a White House official described the president’s speech as noting the nation is now able to “move forward safely in a way in which COVID no longer disrupts our lives the way it has previously.”

The president also will “emphasize the need for the U.S. to remain vigilant in the face of an unpredictable virus, including by preparing for future variants,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss details in advance of the speech.

That the nation is “moving forward safely” probably isn’t the bumper sticker slogan Democrats were hoping for in a midterm election year. But it’s also a much more honest assessment of a virus that’s still widely circulating globally and which has killed at least 945,688 Americans despite aggressive efforts to contain its spread.

Biden’s speech will be in juxtaposition to last year’s Fourth of July speech in which he declared the nation was close to its “independence” from the virus. But pockets of the country refused to get vaccinated last summer, giving rise to fresh waves of COVID hospitalizations in the fall and winter, eventually shuttering classrooms and workplaces.

Accordingly, the White House has been revising its COVID strategy and meeting privately with some of the nation’s top pandemic experts to consider paths the virus might take. Instead of counting primarily on getting more Americans vaccinated and moving past the virus, Biden’s new strategy would acknowledge that Americans might experience COVID in waves in the year to come and that the federal government’s role would be to blunt its impact by shoring up supplies of booster shots, rapid tests and effective therapeutics.

Details of that strategy were expected as early as this week. Biden was expected to touch on that new strategy only broadly Tuesday night.

Also, last Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced new guidance for masks that factors in hospitalization capacity as much as it looks at new COVID case numbers and new COVID hospitalizations. The result is that based on current data more than 70% of Americans forgo masking indoors, including in schools, according to CDC guidance.

As if to remind the public of COVID’s reach, just hours before Biden’s speech Tuesday night, three Democrats — Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Alex Padilla of California and Suzan DelBene of Washington — announced they had tested positive. Several Republicans said they wouldn’t attend because they objected to having to take the PCR tests in the first place.

“We’ve seen things come down before only to be surprised,” one person said, describing the meetings as helping the administration to prepare for next steps.

ABC News reporter Mariam Khan contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — The nation and the world will be watching tonight when President Joe Biden delivers his first State of the Union address at 9 p.m. ET with a main focus expected to be on how he and the U.S. are responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

As he is set to speak, Russian strikes are killing civilians, forces are massing near Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and Russian President Vladimir Putin shows no sign of backing down.

Biden is expected to highlight his leadership in the allied response and call on Americans to deal with higher gasoline prices in order to help defend democracy.

On the domestic front, he will also address the inflation that is driving his job approval rating at just 37% and highlight progress in dealing with the pandemic that allows many mask mandates to be dropped, including, symbolically, in the House chamber as he makes his high-profile speech.

Latest headlines:

• Biden to stress leadership on Ukraine

Here is how the news is developing today. All times Eastern. Check back for updates.

Mar 01, 3:14 pm
Biden to stress leadership on Ukraine

President Joe Biden’s 9 p.m. ET speech, to be carried live on national television and seen around the world, will be delivered just days after Russia invaded Ukraine — and days after he nominated the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court.

But he’ll also be speaking to Americans suffering from historic inflation as the nation continues to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.

With his job approval at an all-time low of 37%, Biden faces the difficult task of balancing their pain with his desire to reap the political benefits of his legislative wins so far — a massive COVID relief package and a once-in-a-generation investment in the nation’s infrastructure — while also demonstrating his leadership on one of the greatest threats to European stability since World War II.

-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — It was one of the most consequential weeks of President Joe Biden’s presidency, and it came right before his first State of the Union address to Congress.

Biden’s 9 p.m. ET speech, to be carried live on national television and seen around the world, will be delivered just days after Russia invaded Ukraine — and days after he nominated the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court.

But he’ll also be speaking to Americans suffering from historic inflation as the nation continues to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.

With his job approval at an all-time low of 37%, Biden faces the difficult task of balancing their pain with his desire to reap the political benefits of his legislative wins so far — a massive COVID relief package and a once-in-a-generation investment in the nation’s infrastructure — while also demonstrating his leadership on one of the greatest threats to European stability since World War II.

Defending democracy in Ukraine

While a president’s annual address to Congress typically ticks through a laundry list of domestic priorities and accomplishments, the war in Ukraine will likely compel Biden to make foreign policy a dominant theme.

“There’s no question that this speech is a little different than it would have been just a few months ago,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday.

It’s a theme that Biden could use to his advantage, demonstrating his taking command as he keeps Western leaders united against a common foreign foe most Americans can recognize: Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In addition to making the crisis something of personal test of wills between himself and Putin, Biden has not shied from presenting the conflict in consequential, historical terms, equating Ukraine’s defense to the fight against autocracy; he often describes the world as facing an “inflection point” during which it’s the United States’ responsibility to show that democracy can still work.

The president has made reaffirming America’s traditional relationships and strengthening international institutions like NATO a hallmark of his first 13 months in office.

Russia’s invasion has strengthened the NATO alliance, as Western nations stand together against Russia.

Biden has made working in lockstep with Europe an overarching principle of his approach, and it’s delivered results: unprecedented, punitive sanctions against Russia; preemptive releases of intelligence information; and at home, some praise from Republicans usually critical of his policies.

After struggling with the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and bringing Iran back to the agreement over its nuclear program, Russia’s invasion presents Biden with the ability to fulfill a campaign promise of returning America to a position of leadership in the world.

And it could lead to a few bipartisan applause lines from Republicans who have supported his approach — rather than the regular, one-sided standing ovations from Democrats.

Economic woes plague Biden’s presidency

But potentially overshadowing Ukraine and Russia in Biden’s speech will be his attempt to show how he’s addressing inflation, which is at a 40-year high, and an economy still struggling to emerge from the pandemic.

Economic discontent is hurting Biden and his party’s midterm election prospects, with six in 10 Americans reporting inflation hardships, three-quarters saying the economy’s in bad shape and a nearly 20-point lead for the Republican Party in trust to handle it, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll.

The president planned to focus on four economic themes, the White House said: increasing domestic manufacturing and strengthening supply chains; reducing costs for families while also reducing the deficit; promoting competition as another way to lower prices; and expanding access to well paying jobs.

Biden will talk about new steps to promote competition in the ocean freight industry and improve nursing home care, the White House said.

Much of what Biden will call for, though, according to the White House, will rely on a reluctant Congress to send him legislation.

Biden fulfilled a major promise last year when he pushed a $1.9 trillion COVID relief package, known as the “American Rescue Plan,” through Congress. And the president’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure law was a major accomplishment that will pump money into roads, bridges, airports, waterways, broadband internet, cleaning up lead pipes and more.

Members of Congress, governors and other politicians of both parties have touted the benefits of the infrastructure legislation, which garnered bipartisan support.

But it will take time for many of those projects to come to fruition across the country, and Biden has faced the difficult task of using it to boost his poll numbers in the short term.

But since then, prices for food, gas and other consumer goods have jumped. While the U.S. economy has rebounded to a large degree — with strong recent job growth — wages have not kept up with inflation for most workers.

Psaki said that Biden will “absolutely” talk about inflation, noting it’s “a huge issue on the mind of Americans.”

“He’s going to make clear that one of the best ways to lower costs over the long run is to is to increase the productive capacity of our economy, to make more things in America, with more American workers contributing and earning a good living,” she said.

Meanwhile, though, the war in Ukraine has already contributed to higher energy costs — including gas prices — a political threat for Biden.

Last week, two-thirds of Americans supported imposing economic sanctions on Russia, although only 51% backed them if it meant higher energy prices in the U.S., according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll.

Biden has sought to convince Americans the price is worth it and, together with European nations, has held back from sanctioning Russia’s oil and gas sector, fearing that prices could spike around the world.

“The American people understand,” Biden said earlier this month, “that defending democracy and liberty is never without cost.”

Bringing America out of the pandemic

Before Russia invaded Ukraine, a larger theme likely would have been his stressing a “return to normalcy” to try to keep Americans tired of the pandemic from making him and Democrats pay a big political cost in November’s midterm elections.

Ahead of Biden’s speech, the White House has begun a sweeping overhaul of its COVID-19 strategy that will signal the nation is moving past crisis mode and into a more manageable phase in the pandemic, ABC News has learned.

The new strategy was expected to acknowledge that the virus is less of an urgent threat to most Americans because of widespread access to vaccines, booster shots and testing, as well as increasing availability of therapeutics.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased masking recommendations for most of the country last week, a major shift in the nation’s return to normalcy.

Face coverings will not be required in the House chamber where Biden will speak, a symbolic switch after the president walked in with one on for his address last year.

But the federal guidance came after governors of several liberal-leaning states moved ahead on their own with lifting restrictions. Biden’s reluctance to get ahead of the CDC — and let science lead the way, as he had promised he would do — resulted in an ad hoc shift across the country.

While the delta and omicron variants were major speed bumps to Biden’s plan to bring the U.S. out of the pandemic — and actions his administration has taken on testing and masking have appeared reactive — the State of the Union address gives the president a chance to reframe his plan to curb COVID.

Unfulfilled promises hamper Biden

Heading into the midterm elections later this year — when Republicans could retake Congress — Biden has left many promises unfulfilled.

His “Build Back Better” social plan has fallen by the wayside, after passing the House and stalling out in the Senate. It would provide hundreds of billions of dollars for child care, paid family leave, education, health care and combating climate change; without its passage, a number of Biden’s campaign pledges remain unmet.

A pair of voting rights bills that passed the House have also languished in the Senate, and efforts to reform policing and guns have not been met with success.

Biden had promised to tackle climate change and racial equity as key priorities, but he has not been able to gain bipartisan support to do so, despite his pledge to soften political divisions.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — The nation’s capital is ramping up security ahead of President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Up to 700 National Guard troops will “be available to help local law enforcement,” according to the National Guard, and an inner-perimeter fence once again surrounds the Capitol. The Guard announced that these enhanced security measures will be in place through March 7.

The security precautions were put in place to prepare for protests, including truckers against COVID mandates.

On Wednesday, a group of right-wing truckers called the “People’s Convoy,” began a cross-country haul from California to D.C. to protest COVID-19 mandates and restrictions.

It comes in the wake of Canada’s “Freedom Convoy” truckers who forcibly occupied the Ambassador Bridge, connecting Detroit, Michigan with Ontario, Canada, while protesting COVID-19 vaccination mandates in Canada.

Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger announced the fence surrounding the Capitol was erected “out of an abundance of caution in light of the upcoming State of the Union Address, and the possibility of demonstrations in the next couple of weeks,” according to a statement released on Sunday.

The United States Capitol Police have also been working in tandem with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies including D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, the United States Park Police, the United States Secret Service and the National Guard on a “security plan to prevent any disruption to the important work of Congress,” Manger said.

The fencing, which became politicized following the Jan. 6 riot, was not welcome news to some Republicans.

On Sunday, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the use of resources for extra security should instead be sent to the border.

“Those National Guard and that fencing should be in America but they should be along our borders not around the people’s house,” McCarthy said on Fox. “The people’s house should be open to the people.”

On the other side of the aisle, Washington, D.C. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton — who last year introduced a bill to block permanent fencing at the Capitol complex — released a statement saying while she understands “security concerns related to the trucker convoy and the State of the Union address that led to the fencing being temporarily reinstalled” she will “ensure that the fencing comes down as soon as possible to restore freedom of movement for District of Columbia residents and the general public.”

The request for National Guard troops to D.C. was approved by many surrounding states including Vermont, New Jersey and West Virginia but was not approved by Florida, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis tweeted “there will be no @FLGuard sent to D.C. for Biden’s State of the Union.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Masks will no longer be required in the House chamber when President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address Tuesday night, a major reversal in the politically controversial policy that reinforces his message that the pandemic is receding and America is getting back to something closer to normal.

On Sunday, the U.S. Capitol’s attending physician lifted a mask mandate for lawmakers inside the House chamber just two days before Biden’s nationally televised prime-time speech.

The new guidance sharply reduces the chances of a potential confrontation with Republican lawmakers who don’t believe masks are necessary and violate their freedom.

“Individuals may choose to mask at any time, but it is no longer a requirement,” Capitol physician Brian Monahan said in a memo shared Sunday, saying masks in the House chamber and elsewhere on the Capitol grounds are now optional after about two years of being required.

All 535 members of Congress are also invited to attend Biden’s address this year due to the relaxed coronavirus measures, a marked difference from last year’s address, when only 200 members showed up due to stringent COVID-19 policies.

The shift in guidance comes just two weeks after the Capitol physician and House sergeant at arms initially warned that attendees must wear a KN95/N95 mask to Biden’s speech and if they refused, they would risk being removed from the chamber or fined.

Republicans have sought for months to reverse House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s mandate, even going as far as filing a federal lawsuit.

It’s unclear at this point how many Republican lawmakers will actually show up to hear Biden’s address in person, but at least two Republicans have announced they will not attend due to other COVID requirements for attendees, which include getting a COVID test at least one day before the speech.

“I don’t have time to go take a COVID test today. I only take a test if I’m sick,” GOP Sen. Marco Rubio told reporters Monday.

GOP Rep. Chip Roy of Texas tweeted in response to Rubio’s statement late Monday: “Same. I will not attend.”

The move to remove the mask mandate at the Capitol ahead of Biden’s speech highlights the quickly evolving conditions of the pandemic and how eager some Democrats, including the president himself, are about projecting a “return to normalcy.”

Monahan noted in his letter that the “Washington DC region is now in the ‘green level’ or low level in this new CDC schema allowing for reduction in coronavirus prevention measures such as coronavirus testing frequency and indoor mask wear.”

He added that positive COVID-19 test rates at the Capitol are down to 2.7% in the last two weeks, below the current rate for the D.C. Metropolitan area of 4.7%.

Monahan’s announcement came just after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also updated its mask guidance late last week, easing its recommendations on masks for most Americans living in communities with “low” or “medium” levels of coronavirus.

This all comes as many governors — many of them Democrats — are also easing up on mask mandates.

On Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki denied Biden had any role in masks not being required in the House chamber for his speech.

“The president is very powerful, but he couldn’t make us be in the green zone that we’re in right now in D.C., that’s why we are not required, we’re not going to be required to wear masks starting tomorrow,” she said, referring to D.C. and the White House lifting mask mandates as of March 1.

“For him, it had nothing to do with the timing around the State of the Union,” she added. “He wanted to give the CDC the time to assess and make recommendations that would be clear to the American public about what their recommendations would be for mask wearing moving forward.”

A White House official confirmed to ABC News that masks will no longer be required for fully vaccinated individuals on the White House campus, either, starting Tuesday.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will deliver the State of the Union address Tuesday night amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, changing public health guidance around COVID-19 and as the nomination process for his Supreme Court pick gets underway.

Shortly after, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will deliver the GOP response to Biden’s speech.

Coverage will air on Tuesday from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET on ABC. The speech is being broadcast on ABC stations, as well as Hulu, Roku, YouTube TV, Amazon Fire tablets and TV stick, Xumo, Sling TV, Facebook, Twitter, ABCNews.com and the ABC News and ABC mobile apps.

Biden, whose address begins at 9 p.m. ET, is expected to speak on a variety of issues facing the nation, with a specific focus on the economy as inflation soars and supply chain problems create shortages across the country.

ABC News Live will stream from Capitol Hill throughout the day, with live coverage of the State of the Union address beginning at 8 p.m. ET and a roundtable with Houston voters on what they hope to hear from the president’s speech. At 11 p.m. ET, ABC News Live will feature lawmakers from both sides of the aisle reacting to the speeches.

ABC News Digital will have an up-to-the-minute live blog, key takeaways focusing on main themes, an analysis of the speeches’ political implications and full transcripts of and reaction to the remarks.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump on Monday sought to recast his administration’s role in bolstering Europe’s security, claiming credit for strengthening NATO and arming Ukraine’s military with advanced weaponry.

But critics were quick to point out that Trump, whose “America First” foreign policy slogan often reflected efforts to pull back from allies, frequently undermined NATO and once threatened to withhold military aide from Ukraine — a move that was deemed illegal by a government watchdog and became central to Trump’s first impeachment trial in Congress.

“It was Trump that undermined U.S. national security and froze military assistance to Ukraine,” retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a former National Security Council official during the Trump administration who testified at the impeachment inquiry, told ABC News on Monday. “It was Trump’s attacks on NATO and support from the far-right that encouraged Putin to believe that NATO was fragile. Trump has blood on his hands.”

Nonetheless, as Russian troops continued to clash with Ukrainian forces Monday, Trump boasted of fortifying Ukraine’s defense capabilities and declared that “there would be no NATO” if not for his efforts.

“I hope everyone is able to remember that it was me, as President of the United States, that got delinquent NATO members to start paying their dues, which amounted to hundreds of billions of dollars,” Trump said in a statement.

“Also, it was me that got Ukraine the very effective anti-tank busters (Javelins) when the previous Administration was sending blankets,” he said. “Let History so note!”

Despite his claims of saving NATO, an alliance of 29 countries on both sides of the Atlantic, the Trump administration oversaw a period of immense strain with allies in Europe. As president, Trump wavered on his commitment to Article 5 of the NATO charter, which stipulates that an attack on one member state amounts to attack on them all.

Mick Mulroy, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense during the Trump administration and now an ABC News contributor, characterized Article 5 as “what makes NATO the most effective military alliance in history.”

Ties with Europe became so strained during Trump’s presidency that Trump reportedly discussed removing the U.S. from NATO entirely. Two of Trump’s former national security advisers, John Bolton and Gen. John Kelly, have said publicly that Trump expressed an interest in exiting the alliance.

“To the extent President Trump’s rhetoric around NATO helped increase defense spending, it was likely more out of a fear that the U.S. commitment to European security was faltering rather than a positive reinforcement of mutual commitments to the Alliance and Euro-Atlantic security,” said Steven Keil, a fellow at the German Marshall Fund.

Critics also took note of Trump’s invocation of the Javelin, a shoulder-fired precision missile system designed to destroy tanks and other armored vehicles, in his infamous July 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Trump, in 2018, had approved the $47 million sale of 210 Javelin anti-tank missiles and 37 launchers to Ukraine — the first lethal military assistance provided to Ukraine by the U.S. in its fight against Russian-supported separatists since fighting began in 2014. Zelenskyy told Trump in the 2019 phone call that his government was “almost ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes,” according to a readout of the call.

Trump responded: “I would like you to do us a favor though,” and then pressured Zelenskyy to work with U.S. Attorney General William Barr and his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to publicly announce an investigation into then-candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, who had previously served on the board of a Ukrainian oil firm. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump over the incident, but he was acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office later found that the Trump administration broke the law in withholding nearly $400 million in congressional appropriations earmarked for Ukraine. The funds were eventually released, and the Trump administration denied any wrongdoing.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.