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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will use his second State of the Union tackle on Tuesday to remind Individuals of how their lives have been improved over his first two years in workplace, as he tries to confront pessimism within the nation and navigate the difficult politics of a newly divided Washington.

Relatively than laying out main new coverage proposals, Biden was anticipated to commit a lot of his speech to highlighting his efforts over the previous two years to create jobs, battle inflation and enhance the nation’s infrastructure. The speech comes as Biden is honing his pitch to voters forward of his anticipated announcement within the subsequent few months that he’ll search one other time period in workplace regardless of voter frustrations concerning the path of the nation.

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“Subsequent week, I’ll be reporting on the state of the Union,” Biden mentioned Friday after a stronger-than-expected jobs report that noticed the unemployment charge drop to the bottom stage in additional than 53 years. “However at the moment, I’m joyful to report that the state of the Union and the state of our economic system is robust.”

Biden’s remarks from the Home rostrum will happen in a sharply completely different context from a 12 months in the past. Republicans now management the chamber, rendering it unlikely that any important laws reaches Biden’s desk. The newly empowered GOP is itching to undo a lot of Biden’s achievements and elevating the specter of persistent investigations — together with into the current discoveries of labeled paperwork from his time as vice chairman at his house and former workplace.

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“Jobs are up, wages are up, inflation is down, and COVID now not controls our lives,” Biden advised the Democratic Nationwide Committee on Friday. “However now, the intense MAGA Republicans within the Home of Representatives have made it clear they intend to place all of it in danger. They intend to destroy it.”

The president, in the meantime, is shifting his focus from legislating to implementing the huge infrastructure and local weather payments handed within the final Congress — and to attempting to verify Individuals credit score him for the enhancements.

“These items don’t promote themselves,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg mentioned Sunday on NBC. “And it’s one of many causes I’m actually wanting ahead to that State of the Union tackle. I’ll say that there have been so many accomplishments below this administration. It may be tough to checklist them in a distilled means.”

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Whereas large-scale bipartisanship stays unlikely, Biden was set to reissue his 2022 attraction for Congress to get behind his “unity agenda” of actions to deal with the opioid epidemic, psychological well being, veterans’ well being and most cancers.

Biden may even name on lawmakers to responsibly increase the debt restrict and hold the federal government funded. The president has remained against negotiating to keep away from default, whereas Republicans are pushing for unspecified deep spending cuts to scale back the deficit.

Biden, in keeping with two administration officers who requested anonymity to preview the speech, was additionally anticipated to debate his determination to shoot down a suspected Chinese language surveillance balloon Saturday, as a part of a broader part on countering China’s extra assertive financial and navy actions world wide.

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His tackle final 12 months got here simply days after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine and plenty of within the West doubted Kyiv’s capacity to keep away from a swift routing. Now the struggle is on the cusp of getting into its second 12 months, and below Biden the U.S. and allies have despatched tens of billions of {dollars} in navy and financial help to bolster Ukraine’s defenses. Now the president should make the case — each at house and overseas — for sustaining that coalition because the struggle drags on.

In the meantime, inflation, which rose precipitously final 12 months partly due to hovering power costs from the struggle, has begun to ease.

Nonetheless, solely 1 / 4 of U.S. adults say issues within the nation are headed in the proper path, in keeping with a brand new ballot by The Related Press-NORC Middle for Public Affairs Analysis; about three-quarters say issues are on the fallacious observe.

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Equally, views of the nationwide economic system stay deeply unfavorable, with 24% calling the nationwide economic system good and 76% calling it poor. Forty-one % of Democrats and eight% of Republicans name the economic system good. The figures are just like when Biden delivered his State of the Union tackle final 12 months, however an adjustment from Biden’s first 12 months in workplace when Individuals had been extra optimistic; about half mentioned they thought the nation was headed in the proper path when the president took workplace.

On the similar time, 57% say their private monetary scenario is nice. That’s unchanged since December however has eroded barely since earlier final 12 months. At least 62% of Individuals had referred to as their private monetary scenario good in AP-NORC polls carried out from late 2019 by means of spring of 2022.

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Two years after Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol by pro-Trump rioters, a protecting fence was reinstalled Sunday across the Capitol forward of Biden’s tackle.

After the speech, Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and his Cupboard plan to carry over 30 occasions in two days to drive the message house to the American individuals of their communities. Biden will go to Wisconsin to debate job creation on Wednesday and on Thursday might be in Tampa, Florida to speak about his efforts to decrease prescription drug prices and defend Social Safety and Medicare.

“Throughout the State of the Union, President Biden will define how the previous two years has seen historic job progress, falling inflation, larger wages, and report investments coming again to America,” the White Home mentioned. “The financial journey blitz showcases how the president’s imaginative and prescient is creating jobs, rebuilding our infrastructure, decreasing prices for households, tackling local weather change, investing in our future and delivering for households too usually left behind.”

The journey follows Biden’s stops final week in Baltimore, New York and Philadelphia centered on rail and water infrastructure initiatives funded by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure legislation.

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Related Press writers Aamer Madhani, Emily Swanson and Hannah Fingerhut contributed to this report.