President Biden will likely deliver a joint address to Congress after he has a chance to take a victory lap on a soon-to-be-passed coronavirus relief package, White House chief of staff Ron Klain said Tuesday.
“I think we wanted to get through this rescue plan first and get it done and get it passed. And we will go to the country and take a few weeks to explain the plan,” Klain told Punchbowl News. “I think shortly after that you will see him work with the Congress on a joint address that is appropriate for COVID and all of these other times we are living in.”
Biden has yet to deliver an address to Congress roughly two months into his time in office, and White House officials have largely been mum about when that annual tradition might take place. Klain’s comments indicate the speech likely won’t happen until at least next month.
Officials have further said such a speech will likely be modified to ensure safety amid the pandemic.
“It’s not a snubbing happening here. We are in the middle of a global pandemic,” press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters last week. “And, of course, any joint session speech would look different than the past.”
The House is poised to pass the American Rescue Plan on Wednesday after the Senate did so on Saturday in a party-line vote. The $1.9 trillion bill will then be sent to Biden’s desk for his signature.
Psaki said Tuesday the president is likely to travel the country once the bill is signed into law to talk about its benefits and sell the public on the legislation, which includes a third round of stimulus checks, an extension of the weekly $300 unemployment insurance boost and billions in funding for vaccine distribution and COVID-19 testing efforts.