Psaki made the scheduling announcement during the March 8 press briefing.
“He will discuss the many sacrifices that the American people have made over the last year and the grave loss communities and families across the country have suffered,” Psaki said. “The president will look forward to highlighting the role that Americans will play in beating the virus and moving the country to getting back to normal.”
The speech will be his first primetime address since he took office on Jan. 20. According to Psaki, he will pay his respects to the people who died during the pandemic.
In the speech, Biden will also likely reference the $1.9 trillion relief package that was passed in the Senate on March 6. The House is expected to approve the measure on March 9 before it’s sent to Biden’s desk.
There was speculation last week about when Biden would give his State of the Union address to both chambers of Congress, which typically occurs about a month after a new president takes office.
“We are in the middle of a global pandemic, and of course any joint session speech would look different than the past,” Psaki said last week, saying that the White House has been working closely with congressional leaders about the plans and details about how it will look.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on March 8 released its long-awaited guidance for fully vaccinated people. According to the guidance provided by the agency, those who have been fully vaccinated can gather outdoors with unvaccinated individuals without wearing masks as long as people who are in the household are low risk and healthy.
In recent days, Utah, Texas, Mississippi, Iowa, Montana, and North Dakota have ended, or will soon end, statewide face-covering requirements. The governors of Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Tennessee never did require face coverings.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, said on March 4 that the state will end its mandate in about a month, saying that starting April 9, wearing face coverings will be “a matter of personal responsibility and not a government mandate.”
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, also announced that some virus rules will be rescinded, including capacity limits that were placed on businesses and sporting events. Amusement parks, he said, can also open. But Lamont said the state’s mask mandate will remain.
