Congress’ Office of the Attending Physician announced the policy change Sunday, lifting a requirement that has been in place for much of the past two years and had become a partisan flashpoint on Capitol Hill.
WASHINGTON — Face coverings are now optional for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday, as Congress is lifting its mask requirement on the House floor after federal regulators eased guidelines last week in a rethinking of the nation’s strategy to adapt to living with a more manageable COVID-19.
The nation’s capital is now in an area considered low risk under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new metrics, which place less of a focus on positive test results and more on what’s happening in community hospitals. The new system greatly changes the look of the CDC’s risk map and puts more than 70% of the U.S. population in counties where the coronavirus is posing a low or medium threat to hospitals.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced initial guidelines earlier this month from the Office of the Sergeant at Arms that included a threat that violation of guidelines for social distancing and mask wearing during the event would “result in the attendee’s removal.” The new policy eases the fears of some Biden allies who had been gearing up for potentially disruptive protests from Republicans to the policies.
Seating for Biden’s first address to a joint session of Congress, last April, was capped at about 200 — about 20% of usual capacity for a presidential presentation — and White House aides fretted that a repeat would be a dissonant image from the message the president aimed to deliver to the American people.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Police erect fencing around the US Capitol ahead of Pres. Biden's State of the Union AddressAhead of President Biden's State of the Union Address on Tuesday, authorities in D.C. are making preparations.
Read more »
Capitol fencing reinstalled ahead of State of the Union, possible ‘Freedom Convoy’ spinoffsThe decision to put up the fence again was made “out of abundance of caution,” according to the Capitol Police, who have long been preparing for the possible arrival of trucks inspired by the “Freedom Convoy” that occupied downtown Ottawa for more than three weeks to protest vaccine mandates.
Read more »
Capitol Police to erect fence on Capitol grounds ahead of State of the Union addressUS Capitol Police will once again erect a fence on Capitol grounds ahead of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address Tuesday, the department announced Sunday.
Read more »
Capitol Ditches Mask Requirement Ahead of State of the UnionFace coverings are now optional for President Joe Biden's State of the Union address Tuesday, as Congress is lifting its mask requirement on the House floor after federal regulators eased guidelines last week.
Read more »
Capitol ditches mask requirement ahead of State of the UnionFace coverings are now optional for Pres. Biden's State of the Union address as Congress lifts House floor mask requirement.
Read more »
Capitol ditches mask requirement ahead of State of the UnionFace coverings are now optional for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, set for Tuesday.
Read more »