Biden speech to Congress: Start time, how to watch and stream

President Joe Biden will give his first speech before a joint session of Congress Wednesday, though it will look and feel different from past State of the Union addresses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Instead of addressing roughly 1,600 lawmakers and their guests, Biden’s speech will be delivered in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol to just 200 invitees — 80 House members and 60 senators, according to Politico. Some lawmakers will be required to sit in the upstairs visitors gallery, and none are permitted to bring guests.

» READ MORE: Biden is coming to Philadelphia following his joint address to Congress

Chief Justice John Roberts and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley will be the sole representatives of the Supreme Court and the military, respectively. And most of Biden’s Cabinet will be absent, all but eliminating the need for a designated survivor — a Cabinet member kept in an undisclosed location in the event of an attack on the government during the speech.

Everyone in the audience will be required to wear masks. That includes Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris, who will be standing behind Biden as he speaks — the first time in U.S. history two women will frame a president.

Biden is expected to focus on his priorities for the upcoming year, including his trillion-dollar infrastructure plan and the continued push to vaccinate more Americans against the coronavirus. The president is also expected to press for police reforms following the trial of Derek Chauvin, who was found guilty of murdering George Floyd.

The address will air on all major broadcast networks and cable news channels to an expected audience of 35 million to 40 million viewers. It will also be streamed live online. Here’s what you need to know:

Biden is expected to begin his address live from the Capitol shortly after 9 p.m. It will air live on all broadcast networks and cable news channels, and is available to stream here on Inquirer.com, courtesy of PBS:

Over the past 10 years, State of the Union-style speeches have averaged one hour and six minutes. Former President Barack Obama preferred shorter speeches that came in under an hour (his longest was 65 minutes in 2014), while all four of former President Donald Trump’s speeches to a joint session of Congress topped one hour.

Using the average length over the past 10 years, Biden’s address should end around 10:06 p.m. Eastern.

Biden’s speech will have blanket television coverage and all the pomp and circumstance the pandemic will allow, but it isn’t technically a State of the Union address.

The president delivers remarks at the invitation of the speaker of the House. Pelosi’s invitation welcomes Biden to deliver an “address,” not a State of the Union, a recognition that a president needs to be in office a full year before giving an official State of the Union address.

Dating back to Ronald Reagan in 1981, recent presidents have addressed a joint session of Congress shortly after their inauguration, but they’re not technically considered State of the Union speeches. Reagan’s first speech was called, “Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the Program for Economic Recovery.” George W. Bush’s address in 2001 was technically a budget message titled “The President’s Budget.”

On the matter of an annual speech to legislators, the Constitution states that the president “shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”

George Washington, in 1790, was the first to deliver a regular address to Congress. The address has transformed over the years, shifting from a speech to a written statement, and back to a speech with the advent of radio and later television. Since 1947, it has officially been known as the State of the Union.

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina will deliver Republicans’ rebuttal to Biden’s address.

Scott, who is the only Black Republican in the Senate, will serve as the face of the party after Biden addresses the nation. Considered a potential 2024 presidential candidate, Scott is a leading GOP voice on race and criminal justice reform, and he is popular with both the pro-Donald Trump and moderate wings of the party.

“Senator Tim Scott is not just one of the strongest leaders in our Senate Republican Conference. He is one of the most inspiring and unifying leaders in our nation,” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.

In a break from tradition, a fellow Democrat will also deliver a formal response to Biden’s speech tonight.

Rather than criticize Biden, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D, N.Y.), speaking on behalf of the left-wing Working Families Party, said he plans to deliver a speech to cue the president in on what progressives want to see next out of the administration.

“It’s a balancing act. He’s already done a lot that I love. And he’s going to say a lot of things that I like, as well,” Bowman told NBC News. “But if we relent, it doesn’t mean that what’s been going on so far is going to continue. It’s important for us as progressives to continue to push and continue to organize.”

It’s the first time in modern history a member of the president’s own party will deliver an official response to this type of speech. It’s also a sign that progressives who unified behind Biden during the 2020 election are willing to buck party leadership, according to Meena Bose, executive dean for public policy and public service at Hofstra University.

“This indicates the diversity of policy views within the Democratic Party, and the clear movement for action,” Bose said.

The practice of delivering a televised rebuttal dates to 1966, when two Republicans — Sen. Everett Dirksen and then-Rep. Gerald Ford — offered a joint response five days after Democratic President Lyndon Johnson’s State of the Union speech.

Ford, who succeeded to the presidency in 1974 after President Richard Nixon resigned, would later become the first person to both deliver a response and a State of the Union address. Later, former Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton also delivered rebuttals, as has Biden, who was part of the Democrats’ official response to Reagan while a senator in 1983 and 1984.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.