Takeaways from President Biden's State of the Union address

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden faced a raucous response from lawmakers as he delivered his State of the Union address Tuesday to set the stage for the next two years of a divided government, a debt-limit clash, Republican probes and the 2024 presidential campaigns.

His nearly 75-minute speech drew a range of reactions from House members and senators, with boos and challenges by several Republicans, cheers and whoops by Democrats and a surprising number of standing ovations from both parties. 

Speaking to lawmakers in the Capitol and to tens of millions of viewers at home, Biden sought to stress bipartisan achievements under a majority Democratic government over the past two years and invited Republicans who now control the House to work with him in the next two. 

“To my Republican friends, if we could work together in the last Congress, there is no reason we can’t work together in this new Congress,” Biden said.

But he also laid out the Democratic agenda of higher taxes on billionaires and corporations, more regulations of fees and charges levied by businesses, and measures to make it easier for workers to organize labor unions — to Democrats’ applause and Republican boos. 

Biden took the national stage under a cloud created by criticism of his decision last week to let a Chinese spy balloon cross the United States before shooting it down, and a recent Washington Post poll that found 6 out of 10 Americans think he has done “little or nothing” as president. 

Seeking to warm the tepid public response, he will be joined over the next two years by Vice President Kamala Harris and Cabinet members making personal appearances and speeches across the country to reinforce his message. 

Here are some takeaways from the State of the Union event:

Straddling the aisle 

On the Republican side of the chamber, four rows from the front, four Senate swing voters sat together in a row: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.). They did not always all clap or stand to approve of a Biden statement, but they did as he ended his speech by saying “because the people of this nation are strong, the State of the Union is strong.”

Right of the aisle 

Biden ignited angry responses from Republicans when he spoke about their demand for spending cuts in return for votes to raise the debt ceiling to pay the nation’s bills. “Some of my Republican friends want to take the economy hostage — I get it — unless I agree to their economic plans. All of you at home should know what those plans are. Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset,” Biden said. Republicans jeered, and Biden responded: “I’m not saying a majority.” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) stood and yelled at Biden, “you’re lying” and later, sitting down, shouted “liar.” In response to the outcry, the president said, “I'm glad to see it. I enjoy conversion.” Later, when Biden talked about the need to stop the flow of fentanyl, some Republicans yelled out “over the border, over the border.” One of them shouted, “It’s your fault.”

Standing O’s 

Despite the clear partisanship in the chamber, there were a few standing ovations from Democrats and Republicans. They all looked to the gallery to applaud Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, and RowVaughn and Rodney Wells, the mother and stepfather of the late Tyre Nichols, killed by Memphis police. Members of both political parties stood and clapped when Biden called for police reform and when he lauded police for risking their lives every time they put on their badges. 

Republican rebuttal 

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a former press secretary for former President Donald Trump, delivered a scorching rebuttal that accused Biden and the Democratic Party of pursuing “a radical leftist agenda” and “a left-wing culture war” on the American people. “In the radical left’s America, Washington taxes you and lights your hard-earned money on fire, but you get crushed with high gas prices, empty grocery shelves, and our children are taught to hate one another on account of their race, but not to love one another or our great country,” Sanders said in televised comments following Biden's speech.

But Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), in a Working Families Party response, praised “important steps” Democrats took to help the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as legislation to support the nation's infrastructure and a year-end spending bill. “Those things will make a difference,” she said.