The 2022 State of the Union Address was given by the 46th
president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
,
Joe Biden, on March 1, 2022, at 9:00 p.m.
EST, in the chamber of the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
to the
117th United States Congress
The 117th United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on ...
.
It was Biden's first
State of the Union Address
The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning of each calendar year on the current conditio ...
,
and his
second speech to a
joint session of the United States Congress
A joint session of the United States Congress is a gathering of members of the two chambers of the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Joint sessions can be held on a ...
.
Presiding over this joint session was the
House speaker,
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
, accompanied by
Kamala Harris
Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...
, the
vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
, in her capacity as the
president of the Senate
President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies.
The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...
.
Biden's speech was primarily focused on the
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, which began six days earlier, as well as his touting of major policy achievements and goals surrounding the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, the economy, and social issues.
Address
![P20220301AS-3170 (51989432295)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/P20220301AS-3170_%2851989432295%29.jpg)
Referring to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukrainian territory, Biden called for worldwide solidarity with the Ukrainian people. At one point all in attendance gave a standing ovation to the Ukrainian ambassador who was in attendance, with many lawmakers wearing or holding Ukrainian flags in support. The recent invasion prompted the White House to drastically alter the speech just days before as events unfolded in Ukraine. However, in a widely-reported gaffe, Biden mistakenly referred to Ukrainians as the "Iranian people" while addressing Congress. Biden rebuked calls to
defund the police
"Defund the police" is a slogan that supports removing funds from police departments and reallocating them to non-policing forms of public safety and community support, such as social services, youth services, housing, education, healthcare and o ...
, saying "the answer is not to defund the police. It's to fund the police". This drew criticism from some
Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...
activists, including Democratic representative
Cori Bush
Cori Anika Bush (born July 21, 1976) is an American politician, registered nurse, pastor, and Black Lives Matter activist serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for . The district includes all of the city of ...
.
Biden used the opportunity to outline a four-point unity agenda that included Biden's emphasis on a cancer
moonshot, care for veterans, tackling drug abuse, and addressing mental health.
Date
The date of the address, March 1, was approximately one month later than usual; all State of the Union addresses since 1934 have occurred in either January or early February.
Some observers in the media attributed the cause of the delay to the spread of the
Omicron variant
Omicron (B.1.1.529) is a variant of SARS-CoV-2 first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by the Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa on 24 November 2021. It was first detected in Botswana and has spread to become the ...
during the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, along with the
United States’ participation in the
2022 Winter Olympics
The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...
.
Additionally, Clare Foran and Kevin Liptak stated in an article published by
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
that the delay "would give Biden more time to try to accomplish some of his legislative goals before addressing Congress and the nation".
Although the
Constitution of the United States
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...
requires the president to give Congress information about the "State of the Union", it does not specify when or how frequently this must occur, only "from time to time".
Disruptions
GOP Representatives
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Marjorie Taylor Greene (born May 27, 1974), also known by her initials MTG, is an American politician, businesswoman, and far-right conspiracy theorist
Sources describing Greene as "far-right" include:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* who has served as th ...
and
Lauren Boebert
Lauren Opal Boebert ( ; ; born December 19, 1986) is an American politician, businesswoman, and gun rights activist. A member of the Republican Party, she serves as the U.S. representative for . From 2013 to 2022, she owned Shooters Grill, a ...
disrupted Biden during his speech at one point, with both chanting the
Trumpist
Trumpism is a term for the political ideologies, social emotions, style of governance, political movement, and set of mechanisms for acquiring and keeping control of power associated with Donald Trump and his political base. '' Trumpists' ...
political slogan
"Build the wall". Boebert also criticized the American presence in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
by shouting "You put them in, 13 of them", in reference to the 13 service members who died in the
2021 Kabul airport attack
A suicide bombing took place at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on 26 August 2021, at 17:50 local time (13:20 UTC), during the evacuation from Afghanistan. At least 183 people were killed, including 170 Afghan civil ...
. A number of lawmakers booed Representative Boebert in response to her interruption of the President.
Boebert was harshly condemned for the interruption, with many labeling it as “disrespectful”.
Responses
Republican Party
Iowa governor Kim Reynolds
Kimberly Kay Reynolds (née Strawn; born August 4, 1959) is an American politician serving as the 43rd governor of Iowa since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, Reynolds served as the 46th lieutenant governor of Iowa from 2011 to 2017.
Bef ...
gave the Republican response to the State of the Union address. She mentioned the
withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan The United States has conducted two withdrawals of United States troops from Afghanistan:
*Withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan (2011–2016), draw down of United States Armed Forces in the Afghanistan war
*Withdrawal of United State ...
and the
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
. She also criticized the president's approach to foreign policy as "too little, too late." Relating to domestic policy, she criticized high inflation rates. She also criticized mask mandates and Democrats' handling of the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Uni ...
. She said that as Governor of Iowa, her state was the first to reopen schools. She also criticized
Biden's border policy.
Green Party
North Carolina Senate candidate Matthew Hoh gave the Green Party's response to the State of the Union Address. He drew parallels between the
United States invasion of Afghanistan
In late 2001, the United States and its close allies invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government. The invasion's aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had executed the September 11 attacks, and to deny it a safe base of operatio ...
and the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, which he claimed "has verily nearly everything to do with liquid natural gas markets, and other commercial concerns, and with the megalomania of those in DC, Moscow, London, and Kyiv." He argued that wars and the failure to stymie the COVID-19 pandemic are evidence that the government puts profit over people, and that "our government will respond to the
climate crisis
''Climate crisis'' is a term describing global warming and climate change, and their impacts. The term and the alternative term ''climate emergency'' have been used to describe the threat of global warming to humanity (and their planet), and to u ...
" in a similar manner.
Libertarian Party
The chair of the
Libertarian National Committee
The Libertarian National Committee (LNC) controls and manages the affairs, properties, and funds of the United States Libertarian Party. It is composed of the party officers, five at-large representatives elected every two years at the national c ...
Whitney Bilyeu
Whitney Bilyeu is an American politician from Texas who was the 21st chair of the Libertarian National Committee, the governing body of the Libertarian Party, from July 2021 to May 2022. She was elected on July 12, 2021, to fill the vacancy creat ...
gave the Libertarian response to the State of the Union Address. While she agreed with Biden's sanction of top level Russia politicians, she criticized the sanctions placed on Russia as a whole as she believe it would hurt common Russian people the most. She also took a general
anti-war
An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...
and
isolationist
Isolationism is a political philosophy advocating a national foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality and opposes entangl ...
stance toward the
invasion of Ukraine
The territory of present-day Ukraine has been Invasion, invaded or Military occupation, occupied a number of times throughout History of Ukraine, its history.
List
See also
*List of invasions
*List of wars involving Ukraine
References
...
, opposing military involvement of U.S. troops. She criticized
mask mandate
During the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks or coverings, including N95, FFP2, surgical, and cloth masks, have been employed as public and personal health control measures against the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
In com ...
s imposed by the Biden administration, seeing it as ineffectual and intrusive on personal liberty. She mentioned the inflation seen under the Biden administration and thinks it is an effect of long term adoption of
Keynesian economics
Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomic theories and models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongly influences economic output an ...
in U.S. government and plans to solve it through
laissez-faire capitalism
''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups. A ...
. She also briefly beseeches Biden to immediately pardon
Edward Snowden
Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American and naturalized Russian former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and su ...
.
Other
Representative
Rashida Tlaib
Rashida Harbi Tlaib (, ; born July 24, 1976) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the U.S. representative for since 2019. The district includes the western half of Detroit, along with several of its western suburbs and much of the D ...
gave the
Working Families Party
The Working Families Party (WFP) is a minor political party in the United States, founded in New York in 1998. There are active chapters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Nev ...
response to the State of the Union address. Representative
Colin Allred
Colin Zachary Allred (born April 15, 1983) is an American politician, lawyer, and former professional football player. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the U.S. representative from . The district includes the northeastern corner of Dallas, ...
gave the
Congressional Black Caucus
The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is a caucus made up of most African-American members of the United States Congress. Representative Karen Bass from California chaired the caucus from 2019 to 2021; she was succeeded by Representative Joyce ...
response to the State of the Union, the first time ever that the caucus offered an official response to the event. Over 30 young leaders representing 26 states gave the Youth Response to the State of the Union, as part of the Young People Address the Nation event series.
Coverage
Viewership
The speech was carried live in the United States by
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
,
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
,
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
,
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
,
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
,
Fox News Channel
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
,
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
,
Newsmax TV
Newsmax TV is an American conservative television channel owned by Newsmax. The network primarily focuses on opinion-based talk shows. It carries a news/talk format throughout the day and night, with documentaries and films on weekends. During a ...
,
CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
,
NewsNation
NewsNation is an American subscription television network owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and is the company's only wholly-owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel runs a mixture of entertainment programming (consistin ...
, and
Black News Channel
The Black News Channel (BNC) was an American pay television news channel, targeting the African American demographic. The channel was based in Tallahassee, Florida, and launched on February 10, 2020.[Univision
Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...]
,
Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language Terrestrial television, terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a divi ...
, and
CNNe aired the speech.
Ratings for various networks:
*
FNC (cable) – 7,206,000
*
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
(broadcast) – 6,302,000
*
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
(broadcast) – 4,857,000
*
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
(cable) – 4,830,000
*
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
(broadcast) – 4,705,000
*
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
(cable) – 4,057,000
*
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
(broadcast) – 1,858,000
*
Univision
Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...
(broadcast) – 1,350,000
*
Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language Terrestrial television, terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a divi ...
(broadcast) – 1,160,000
*
Newsmax
Newsmax (Newsmax Media, Inc. or Newsmax.com, previously styled NewsMax) is an American right-wing to far-right cable news and digital media company founded by Christopher Ruddy on September 16, 1998. Newsmax Media divisions include its cable ...
(cable) – 462,000
*
CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
(cable) – 284,000
Notable invitations
For the event, first lady
Jill Biden
Jill Tracy Jacobs Biden (born June 3, 1951) is an American educator and the current first lady of the United States since 2021, as the wife of President Joe Biden. She was the second lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017 when her hus ...
and second gentleman
Doug Emhoff
Douglas Craig Emhoff (born October 13, 1964) is an American lawyer who is the second gentleman of the United States. He is married to the 49th vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris. As the first-ever husband of a vice president, Em ...
hosted the
Ukrainian ambassador to the United States,
Oksana Markarova
Oksana Serhiyivna Markarova ( uk, Оксана Сергіївна Маркарова; born 28 October 1976) is a Ukrainian politician and the current Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States since February 2021. Markarova is also a former Mini ...
in their box. Other guests included a CEO of a major American corporation as well as citizens representing support for causes such as
Native American advocacy, military spouses, nurses, teachers, students, and union workers.
The full list consisted of
* Joseph Burgess, New Employee Organization Trainer, United Steelworkers Local 1557
* Joshua Davis, 7th grader, Swift Creek Middle School, diabetes advocate
* Refynd Duro, Progressive Care Unit Nurse, Ohio State Wexner Medical Center
*
Patrick Gelsinger, chief executive officer,
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
*
Frances Haugen
Frances Haugen (born 1983 or 1984) is an American data engineer and scientist, product manager, and whistleblower. She disclosed tens of thousands of Facebook's internal documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission and ''The Wall Street Jo ...
, former
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
Lead Product Manager on Civic Misinformation
* Melissa Isaac, Gizhwaasod (“Protector of the Young”) at the Michigan Department of Education's Indigenous Education Initiative and founder of
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan ( oj, Ziibiwing Anishinaabek) is a federally recognized band of Ojibwe, Chippewa (a.k.a. Ojibwe) located in central Michigan in the United States.
The tribal government offices are located on the Isabella ...
(SCIT)'s Project AWARE Program
*
Oksana Markarova
Oksana Serhiyivna Markarova ( uk, Оксана Сергіївна Маркарова; born 28 October 1976) is a Ukrainian politician and the current Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States since February 2021. Markarova is also a former Mini ...
,
ambassador of Ukraine to the United States
The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United States of America ( uk, Надзвичайний і Повноважний посол України в США) is the ambassador of Ukraine to the United States. On 25 Feb ...
* Danielle Robinson, surviving spouse of Sergeant 1st Class Heath Robinson
* Kezia Rodriguez, student-parent at Bergen Community College
See also
*
2021 Joe Biden speech to a joint session of Congress
Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States, addressed a joint session of the United States Congress on Wednesday, April 28, 2021, the eve of his 100th day in office. It was his first public address before a joint session. Similar to ...
*
*
Timeline of the Joe Biden presidency (2022 Q1)
Notes
References
External links
First Lady's Guest ListFact Sheet: President Biden’s Budget Advances A Bipartisan Unity Agenda
{{DEFAULTSORT:State of the Union Address, 2022
2022 speeches
2022 in American politics
2022 in Washington, D.C.
2022 in the United States
March 2022 events in the United States
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
Presidency of Joe Biden
Speeches by Joe Biden
Reactions to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
117th United States Congress
Articles containing video clips