WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address will be delivered to a limited audience in the U.S. Capitol under similar pandemic-related restrictions as last year, according to an official familiar with the arrangements.
Only about 200 people, fully masked, were allowed inside the House chamber when Biden delivered his first speech to a joint session of Congress in April 2021. In addition to audience-size restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, security concerns in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection played a role in limiting attendance.
The exact number of lawmakers and others who will be permitted to attend in-person this year — on March 1 — is still being discussed in planning for the event. Confirmation of limits for the State of the Union came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday announced that the public health emergency status at the Capitol would remain in effect until March 30.
Pelosi said in a letter to colleagues that was being done — as well as extending proxy voting for House members — in consultation with the Office of the Attending Physician and the House Sergeant-at-Arms. The Capitol faced a surge of coronavirus infections at the end of last year as the omicron variant spread throughout the country.
The House chamber has enough seats on its floor and in galleries to accommodate about 1,100 people, and its capacity can be further expanded with temporary seats and standing room. Typically, about every seat would be filled for a presidential address to a joint session, including all 535 members of Congress and their guests, as well as Cabinet members and Supreme Court Justices.
Thursday night, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican, announced she had tested positive for the coronavirus. “Thankfully, I am asymptomatic. I have consulted with the Attending Physician and plan to follow the CDC’s recommendations and quarantine for five days,” the West Virginia Republican added, in a statement.
