For the seventh and final time Tuesday night, President Obama will deliver the State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress. Here’s all you need to know to follow the action:
When does it start?
The president is scheduled to go on at 9 p.m. ET, though given the time involved with the ceremonial entrance and introduction by the House speaker, the speech itself may not start right on time.
Where can I watch?
Where can’t you watch? The broadcast networks and cable news stations will of course provide live television coverage of the address. But you won’t need a cable subscription to follow the speech. The White House will also be streaming the president’s message live on YouTube and on its website.
Additionally, Obama’s address will, for the first time, be available on demand via Amazon Video.
Anything unique about this year’s speech?
Actually, yes. Most years, presidents use State of the Union speeches to offer a laundry list of policy proposals, which often lead to partisan scenes in the House chamber where half the members (those from the president’s party) stand and applaud as the opposition party sits silently.
While Tuesday’s address will undoubtedly still be a partisan affair (this is an election year, after all), the White House has said Obama’s speech will be “non-traditional.” In a video previewing the address, Obama said he would focus on “the big things,” and officials have said the president will focus on larger challenges facing the country.
Who will deliver the Republican response?
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, rumored to be a possible GOP vice presidential contender, was tapped by Republican leaders to deliver what they’re calling the “Republican Address to the Nation” following Obama’s speech.
In announcing the selection, House Speaker Paul Ryan, in his first State of the Union at the helm in the House, said, “Nikki Haley has led an economic turnaround and set a bold agenda for her state, getting things done and becoming one of the most popular governors in America.”
Who are the first lady’s guests?
Per a tradition that began with President Reagan in 1982, Michelle Obama will host a number of guests in the first lady’s box, including one who will not be there. The White House announced last week that one chair “will be left empty for the victims of gun violence who no longer have a voice.” The symbolic move follows the president’s announcement of new executive actions aimed at curbing gun violence.
One guest who will join the first lady is Refaai Hamo, a Syrian refugee who now lives in Detroit. The invitation of Hamo signals an effort on the president’s part to highlight his support for refugees amid rhetoric from some GOP presidential candidates cautioning against admitting Syrians given the increased threat of terrorism from the Islamic State.
In a bookend, of sorts, to Obama’s 2008 campaign, also in attendance at the president’s final State of the Union will be Edith Childs of Greenwood, S.C. In 2007, Childs coined what became the mantra of the Obama campaign when she rallied supporters at a campaign stop for then-Sen. Obama by chanting: “Fired up! Ready to go!”
The guest list
- Sue Ellen Allen, of Scottsdale, Ariz., a former prison inmate and the co-founder of Gina's Team, a nonprofit helping inmates reenter society and as a former inmate starting over after her release in 2009. She'll highlight Obama's proposals for criminal justice reform.
- Gloria Balenski, of Schaumburg, Ill., who wrote a letter to President Obama thanking him for the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
- Jennifer Bragdon, of Austin, Tex., a 42-year-old community college student who works full time and is working toward a degree to become a middle school teacher. Obama has proposed free community college for eligible Americans.
- Edith Childs, of Greenwood, S.C., a county councilwoman and grandmother who started the "Fired up! Ready to go!" chant during Obama's presidential campaign in 2007.
- Cynthia K. Dias, of Las Vegas, Nev., a Vietnam veteran and registered nurse who volunteers with Veterans Village, a charity working to provide help for homeless veterans.
- Mark Davis, of Washington, whose business WDC Solar has installed more than 125 solar systems in Washington at no cost to homeowners with good credit through tax credits and private funds.
- Cary Dixon, of Huntington, W.Va., the mother of a drug addict who met Obama at a community forum on the heroin epidemic in Charleston, W.Va. last year.
- Lydia Doza, of Klamath Falls, Ore and Anchorage, Alaska, a 24-year-old native Alaskan college student pursuing a degree in software engineering technology at Oregon Tech, who will highlight the importance of science and engineering education.
- Refaai Hamo, of Troy, Mich, a Syrian refugee whose wife and one daughter were killing in by anti-personnel missile fired by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. After two years in Turkey, Homo received refugee status and moved to Troy, Mich. His story was featured on the website Humans of New York.
- Lisa Jaster, of Houston, Texas, a 37-year-old major in the U.S. Army Reserve who graduated from Ranger School last year following an administration directive to lift the ban on women in combat.
- Mark Luttrell, of Shelby County, Tenn., a Republican mayor and former sheriff who has advocated for criminal justice reform, creating specialty courts for drug, mental health, and veterans.
- Dannel Malloy, of Hartford, Conn., is the governor of Connecticut who has promoted several Obama administration priorities: raising the minimum wage to $10.10, guaranteeing paid sick leave and proposing new gun control measures.
- Braeden Mannering, of Bear, Del., attended the White House Kids' "State Dinner" as part of the first lady's Let's Move! initiative. The 12-year-old started his own nonprofit, Brae's Brown Bags (3B), which provides healthy food to homeless and low-income individuals in his community.
- Satya Nadella, of Bellevue, Wash., is the CEO of Microsoft. The company is being recognized for expanding access to computer science in K-12 classrooms and increasing its paid leave benefits.
- Jim Obergefell, of Cincinnati. was the plaintiff in Obergefell v. Hodges, which ruled same-sex couples have the constitutional right to marry.
- Kathleen O'Toole, is the police chief of Seattle, Wash. which received a $600,000 grant from the Department of Justice to expand a six-month pilot program for body-worn police cameras.
- Ryan Reyes, of San Bernardino, Calif, whose partner Larry "Daniel" Kaufman was one of the 14 victims of the December 2 terrorist attack at Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. Daniel was a job trainer for adults with developmental disabilities at the Coffee N More shop, and is credited with saving the lives of four people when he warned others before being shot and killed in the attack.
- Ronna Rice, of Greeley, Colo., owns Rice's Lucky Clover Honey, a raw and unfiltered honey exporter whose business trades with Pacific Rim nations that would be part of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership.
- Cedric Rowland, of Chicago, an Affordable Care Act "navigator" for Near North Health Service Corporation in Chicago. One woman he helped find health coverage for, Stephanie Lucas, will watch the State of the Union Address from the White House.
- Naveed Shah, of Springfield, Va., is an Army veteran who was born to Pakistani parents in Saudi Arabia and later served in Iraq. He now works with veterans groups in Virginia assisting in the transition between military and civilian life.
- Earl Smith, of Austin, Texas, is a veteran who first met then-Sen. Obama in 2008 when he worked security at the Austin Hyatt Regency Hotel. Smith gave Obama a military patch he had worn serving with an artillery brigade in Vietnam that sustained 10,041 casualties and received 13 Medals of Honor, which Obama had kept and will donate to the Obama Presidential Library.
- Spencer Stone, of Sacramento, Calif, is an Air Force staff sergeant who was on a Paris-bound train with his friends when he helped subdue a gunman who tried to open fire aboard the crowded train.
- Oscar Vazquez, of Fort Worth, Texas, is a veteran, former engineering student and so-called "dreamer" who came to the United States as a child but had to return to Mexico to get a visa to return to the United States and enlist in the Army. He served in Afghanistan and is now a U.S. citizen.
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