President Joe Biden on Tuesday accepted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s invitation for him to address a joint session of Congress on April 28, ending weeks of speculation on when the president would deliver his first speech to Congress.
“The President has accepted the invitation of the Speaker of the House to address a Joint Session of Congress on April 28, the night before his 100th day in office,” the White House said in a statement.
Pelosi, in a letter, asked Biden to share his “vision” for “addressing the challenges and opportunities of this historic moment.”
“Nearly 100 days ago, when you took the oath of office, you pledged in a spirit of great hope that ‘Help Is On The Way,’ Pelosi said in the letter, adding, “because of your historic and transformative leadership, Help Is Here!”
Biden’s address will come over three months after he took office, while his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, delivered his first address to Congress a month after his inauguration on Feb. 28, 2017.
The address comes as Biden is trying to shepherd major legislation on infrastructure, gun control, unions and more through Congress, most of which is facing firm opposition from Republicans.
Forbes has reached out to the White House for comment.
The precise date of Biden’s joint address remained something of a mystery up until Tuesday. Biden had suggested in January that he would give his address the next month as usual, but that date came and went with the White House stating it was never set in stone. Pelosi said in February Biden’s address wouldn’t be until after the $1.9 trillion relief bill passed Congress, which happened last month.
“Obviously it will look different because of covid and because we want to be safe and project that safety and our responsibility of projecting that to the American public,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in February.