Fact-check: Biden says more job gains in past two years 'than any president has ever created in four years'
“We have created a record 12 million new jobs — more jobs created in two years than any president has ever created in four years,” Biden said.
While those numbers are accurate, there’s more to the story, and Covid played a big role.
U.S. employers have added 12.1 million jobs since Biden took office. The gains came after enormous job losses in 2020 after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and related shutdowns that forced many businesses to close their doors — some permanently, some temporarily.
The numbers Biden highlighted also reflect in part a growing population and, subsequently, a larger workforce. When job gains as a share of the workforce are considered, the progress under Biden doesn’t outpace the four-year gains of some of his recent predecessors.
Job growth since January 2021 has increased the workforce by 8.5%, but other presidents have had better numbers. To name a few: In President Ronald Reagan’s second term, job gains grew the workforce by 11.2%, while President Bill Clinton had increases of 10.5% and 9.3% in his two four-year terms.
President Donald Trump holds the record for the worst four-year jobs numbers of any president in modern history. In his first two years, the workforce grew by just 3%.
Biden has entered the House chamber to deliver address
Biden entered the House chamber shortly after 9 p.m. ET to deliver his second State of the Union address, escorted by a number of senators and House members, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.
First lady Jill Biden arrived shortly before and was greeted with major applause.
On his way in, the president shook hands and greeted lawmakers and other officials. He is set to begin speaking shortly.
Jackson one of five Supreme Court justices in attendance
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, is one of five justices at tonight’s State of the Union address.
Jackson, whom President Joe Biden appointed last year to replace liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, is joined by justices from both sides of the court’s ideological divide, led by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts.
Roberts is joined by two of his fellow conservatives — Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — and liberal Justice Elena Kagan is also in attendance.
The absent justices are conservatives Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch and liberal Sonia Sotomayor. Thomas, Alito and Sotomayor have not attended in recent years.
Two retired justices, Breyer and Anthony Kennedy, have also joined their former colleagues in the Capitol.
It is mostly the same lineup as last year, when five justices also attended, including Breyer before Jackson’s confirmation.
Justices have over the years groused about the event’s becoming more politicized. Roberts once called it a “political pep rally,” and the late Justice Antonin Scalia said it was a “childish spectacle.”
This year’s State of the Union address is the first since the Supreme Court dramatically curtailed abortion rights by overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, a decision that highlighted the conservative majority’s willingness to aggressively move the legal landscape to the right.
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh is tonight's 'designated survivor'
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh is the designated survivor for tonight's State of the Union Address, which means he will be in a safe location in case catastrophe befalls the U.S. Capitol, where most other top government leaders are gathered.
The State of the Union address is a rare event that brings together the leadership of all three branches of government in one room, including the president and the vice president, Cabinet secretaries, several Supreme Court justices and virtually every member of Congress.
During the Cold War, when the threat of nuclear war seemed imminent, war planners realized a strike on Washington during the speech could wipe out the entire presidential line of succession and much of the U.S. government with it, so the White House began making sure at least one potential presidential successor was kept safe at a secure location outside the Capitol.
Designated survivors have to be in the presidential line of succession and natural-born citizens so they would be eligible to serve as president. They’re usually lesser-known Cabinet secretaries.
Beyond those constitutional requirements, the selection of the survivor usually comes down to more quotidian issues, said former White House Cabinet Secretary Chris Lu, who helped select the designated survivor seven times during Barack Obama’s presidency.
“If there’s going to be an extended discussion of an issue, you want the relevant Cabinet member at the speech,” Lu said on Twitter.
The White House might also select a Cabinet secretary who plans to be traveling outside Washington anyway, but Lu noted that the person would still "need to be in a secure location during the actual speech."
And Lu said officials “tried really hard not to ask the same person to sit out twice,” because “it’s more fun” to attend the State of the Union — especially since “the Cabinet often gets together beforehand for dinner.”
Graphic: The 10 longest and shortest State of the Union speeches since 1964
President Biden’s 61-minute State of the Union speech last year was longer than most recent addresses but wasn’t enough to break into the 10 longest speeches.
To do that this year, Biden would need to talk for at least 67 minutes. An 89-minute speech would put him atop the list of longest speeches since President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Strengthening the economy is public’s top policy priority ahead of State of the Union, poll finds
Seventy-five percent of Americans say strengthening the economy should be the top policy priority for President Joe Biden and Congress to address this year, according to a new Pew Research Center poll, higher than any other priority the survey tested.
At the bottom of the list of 21 policy priorities is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, with just 26% of respondents saying Biden and Congress should address it this year — a drop from 2021 and 2022, when it was near the top in the poll.
VP Harris leads Senate into the House chamber
Vice President Kamala Harris, the president of the Senate, led senators into the chamber for the speech.
Embattled Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., standing in the center aisle and sporting a bright yellow tie, awkwardly greeted a number of senators, shaking hands with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Biden will call for bipartisanship but faces challenges in divided Congress
At his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Joe Biden will tout his achievements and issue a fresh call for bipartisan legislating in the divided Congress.
Sitting behind him will be new Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican who leads a fractious and conservative House majority with the power to greenlight or thwart Biden’s best-laid plans.
A White House official said Biden will tout “transformational” laws he signed over the last two years and call for continuing that progress by “working together in the year ahead.”
The speech highlights a challenge for Biden: deciphering what can realistically pass in a Republican-controlled House and Democratic-led Senate — and creating a fertile environment for it.
Biden has left the White House for the Capitol
The president and the first lady departed from the White House Diplomatic Room just before 8:30 p.m., entered the presidential limo known as "the Beast" and began driving toward the Capitol.
Capitol buzzing again for SOTU after pandemic restrictions are lifted
With pandemic restrictions lifted this year, State of the Union night feels like its normal self, and the Capitol is buzzing once again.
Waitstaff were carrying hors d’oeuvre trays in and out of Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s office as he hosted a pre-speech reception.
House and Senate lawmakers were allowed to bring guests again, unlike during the two previous years. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., introduced his SOTU guest, new Maryland Secretary of State Susan Lee, to colleagues and reporters.
And Statuary Hall, just off the House floor, was packed again with television cameras, lighting and crews in anticipation of the parade of lawmakers who will give instant reaction to President Joe Biden’s speech.
The ornate room had been shut down during the past two State of the Union nights because of Covid restrictions.