All members of Congress will be invited to attend the State of the Union in person
By Kristin Wilson
All members of Congress would be invited to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on March 1, according to the House sergeant-at-arms, a return to a full House chamber after last year’s socially distant speech.
House Sergeant-at-Arms William Walker wrote Thursday there will be coronavirus “safety measures” in place, including mandatory N95 mask wearing and a negative Covid-19 test. He added that after consultations with the House physician it was decided that, “testing is required for all State of the Union attendees, including Members of Congress, invited press, and any staff person who will be in close contact with the principal attendees in a support staff role.”
The memo also states, “completion of SARS CoV2 coronavirus vaccination including booster vaccine is strongly recommended at least two weeks prior to the event.”
The decision comes after Biden’s first speech to a joint session of Congress in 2021 was only attended by 200 people in the House chamber instead of the usual 535 members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, members of the administration and guests. Attendance in the chamber was limited due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
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