State of the Union 2023: House GOP skeptical of Biden’s call for ‘unity’ ahead of address
Juliegrace Brufke
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House Republicans are not optimistic that President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address will help unify Republicans and Democrats in the newly divided Congress.
Republicans have been highly critical of Biden in the days and months leading up to his Tuesday night speech, taking aim at his handling of the border and, most recently, the Chinese spy balloon that flew over sensitive military sites last week.
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Biden is slated to put forward his “unity agenda” in the 9 p.m. address before a joint session of Congress.
Multiple senior GOP lawmakers told the Washington Examiner they would like to see in Biden’s speech an openness to spending cuts as he negotiates with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) ahead of a summer deadline on the debt ceiling.
“I hope the president will stand before the American people and say, ‘You know, I’ve seen the light, and we’re spending this country into oblivion, and I look forward to negotiating with Kevin McCarthy on a responsible, reasonable debt ceiling package that puts us on a path of balancing the budget,’” National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson (R-NC) told the Washington Examiner.
House Republican Policy Chairman Gary Palmer (R-AL) echoed Hudson’s sentiments, adding, “I’d like to see the president more willing to work in a bipartisan manner, to bring down the cost of living, to secure our border, to have a sensible energy policy,” he said.
House Republicans tempered their expectations, though, familiar with the partisanship that has gripped both parties in recent decades.
“I’m not very optimistic, but still, we can hope — I think Speaker McCarthy made a good faith effort to negotiate with him to talk about things that we’re hearing about in our districts, that people are struggling to make ends meet. There’s 20 million people that are behind on their utility bills, and that’s largely because of the Biden energy policies, and I think at some point, he needs to realize that what they’re doing is hurting people.”
House Republican Vice Chairman Mike Johnson (R-LA) said he would like to hear the “truth” when asked what he wants to see from Biden on Tuesday night.
“We won’t expect it, we’re going to get more spin. They have three approaches to the truth. They either deny that it’s happening — they have to acknowledge a crisis,” he said. “They blame it on the previous administration, or they try to spin it and convince us that it’s a positive development, none of which bears any resemblance to the truth at all. My constituents know it. They told me before I left Louisiana that everybody said they’re not gonna watch this because, what’s the point?”
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While GOP lawmakers blame Biden for inflation, tying his spending priorities to rising costs of goods, Democrats counter that the debt significantly increased under the Trump administration and tout the administration’s recent job numbers.
Biden is expected to call for bipartisanship on an array of issues, ranging from the opioid crisis to veterans care.