Unlike most presidents before him, President Joe Biden has not yet given the annual State of the Union (SOTU) address, which usually takes place in February. Since 1981, every elected president has given the address by the end of February.
The Associated Press reported that Biden was expected to deliver the address on February 23, while noting the date was yet to be confirmed. February has since passed and there still is no date scheduled for Biden to deliver a SOTU speech.
When White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked about the address, she said that there had never been a plan for him to give the speech this month, “We don’t know where the Feb. 23 date came from. It’s a great mystery.”
It was unclear why the SOTU address was not taking place until Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman said that Capitol Police received intelligence indicating that some of the extremists that took part in the Capitol Breach on January 6th were planning to ‘attack’ the building during the SOTU address.
According to Pittman, this information pushed Capitol Police to maintain an elevated presence since the January 6th unrest.
