Moments before President Biden stepped onto the floor of the House Tuesday night, NBC senior Capitol Hill correspondent Garrett issued a word of warning about what he would be stepping into: a possible “lively room” will with Republicans and no COVID restrictions.
Despite reports that Biden would soon issue an end to the COVID emergency, Haake warned viewers that “this chamber is packed. There are no longer any COVID-19 restrictions in place. No masking, no social distancing, no requirements for testing. Which means, unlike his previous two addresses to the nation, every seat will be filled. We are at standing room only, at capacity.”
He also hinted that Biden would be walking into a lion’s den. “It could be a lively room too because many of those seats are filled with this new Republican House majority. When the President comes through that center door, he’s going to see the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy directly in front of him,” he hyped.
After blowing past the good rapport Biden and McCarthy say they have, Haake huffed that the Republican majority was a “thorn” in Biden’s side, citing their investigations into his administration and alleged corruption:
Now, McCarthy and Biden have both praised each other so far, said they have worked well together so far. But McCarthy’s members have been opening investigation after investigation into the Biden administration and into the President himself. They have been a thorn in his side in many ways, including an investigation or hearing just today on the border crisis.
There’s really only one area of major agreement that they’ve even discussed and that’s the idea of confronting China more strongly, which has taken a back seat after the issue with the balloon over the last couple of weeks.
So, it could be a difficult room for President Biden.
Haake concluded with “the good news” that “McCarthy warned his members this morning not to cause any kind of scene, that the lights are on, the cameras and mics are hot.”
The transcript is below, click “expand” to read:
NBC News Special: State of the Union
February 7, 2023
9:02:31 p.m. Eastern(…)
GARRETT HAAKE: First of all, this chamber is packed. There are no longer any COVID-19 restrictions in place. No masking, no social distancing, no requirements for testing. Which means, unlike his previous two addresses to the nation, every seat will be filled. We are at standing room only, at capacity.
It could be a lively room too because many of those seats are filled with this new Republican House majority. When the President comes through that center door, he’s going to see the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy directly in front of him.
Now, McCarthy and Biden have both praised each other so far, said they have worked well together so far. But McCarthy’s members have been opening investigation after investigation into the Biden administration and into the President himself. They have been a thorn in his side in many ways, including an investigation or hearing just today on the border crisis.
There’s really only one area of major agreement that they’ve even discussed and that’s the idea of confronting China more strongly, which has taken a back seat after the issue with the balloon over the last couple of weeks.
So, it could be a difficult room for President Biden. The good news though, Speaker McCarthy warned his members this morning not to cause any kind of scene, that the lights are on, the cameras and mics are hot. He does not want to see any distractions today.
(…)