It's a further step toward normalcy, yet the big annual speech a week from next Tuesday could still turn into a new and disruptive display of national tensions and frustration over trying to move past the pandemic.
However, the State of the Union setting — Capitol Hill — remains one of the most significantly disrupted workplaces in the country, something of a ground zero for culture wars over the lingering pandemic restrictions and security concerns from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.Pelosi indicated last week that lawmakers are aiming for “fuller participation” than last year, when attendance was limited.
All year, the White House has taken extraordinary precautions to keep Biden from getting the virus, including requiring high-quality masks in his vicinity and limiting his travel and participation in large events. “We want to give people a break from things like mask-wearing, when these metrics are better, and then have the ability to reach for them again, should things worsen,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said Wednesday.
The White House sees his speech — in concert with the expected loosening of virus limits — as an opportunity to help stem an erosion of public confidence in his leadership. According to an AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll last month, just 45% of Americans said they approved of Biden’s handling of COVID-19, down from 57% in December and 66% in July.
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