Pelosi on two women sitting behind president at joint address: ‘It’s about time’

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) acknowledged the historical significance of President Biden’s speech before Congress on Wednesday night when she and Vice President Harris will be the first two women to be seated behind the president at a joint address, saying “it’s about time.”

“It’s pretty exciting. And it’s wonderful to make history. It’s about time,” Pelosi said on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports.”

“I made history when I was the first Speaker to be standing behind President Bush and he made note of that,” Pelosi said, referring to former President George W. Bush’s State of the Union address in 2007. Bush began his speech by noting it was the first time a president was addressing “Madam Speaker.” “Now this is just — just so exciting.”

Pelosi has been in the TV frame during several presidential addresses while serving as Speaker during the Bush, Obama and Trump presidencies.

Most notably, Pelosi delivered a memorable moment after former President Trump’s State of the Union last year when she ripped up a copy of his speech before the cameras.

But Wednesday will mark the first time that a female Speaker and a female vice president will be seated next to each other on the dais during a presidential address to Congress.

There will be another historical first at the start of Biden’s address on Wednesday night. William Walker, who Pelosi swore into office earlier this week as the first Black House sergeant-at-arms, will announce the president’s arrival and escort him down the center aisle to the dais.

The House chamber will look relatively sparse due to COVID-19 health restrictions, with only about 200 people expected to be in attendance compared with the usual number of roughly 1,600 for a joint address. Biden will remove his mask while delivering his speech, but everyone else in the room will be required to wear a mask.

“That dictates how many people can be in the room. The more people get vaccinated, hopefully, the more people can be in a room,” Pelosi said.

Security will also be tight, with officials on high alert after the Jan. 6 insurrection. Pelosi said she received a briefing Monday about the security posture ahead of Wednesday night’s address, which has received a special national security designation.

Lawmakers are expected to consider a supplemental funding package in the coming weeks to bolster resources for Capitol security, including for members’ personal protection and to harden the windows, doors and other physical infrastructure of the Capitol to make it harder for intruders to break in like the mob on Jan. 6.

“No one really adequately predicted that a president of the United States would incite an insurrection, but they did save the lives of every member of Congress risking their own lives,” Pelosi said of the Capitol Police.