By Maureen Chowdhury, Mike Hayes, Jason Kurtz and Melissa Macaya, CNN
From CNN's Lauren Fox
Sen. Joe Manchin, a key swing vote and Democrat from West Virginia, has bucked tradition and is seated on the GOP side of the House chamber for the State of the Union speech, sitting between Sens. Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah, and Roger Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi.
A spokesperson for Manchin said he sat with Romney tonight “to remind the American people and the world that bipartisanship works and is alive and well in the US Senate.”
From CNN's Lauren Fox
One stark change in the chamber this State of the Union is the lack of face masks in the House of Representatives.
Just 48 hours after the attending physician issued guidance saying masks were optional, members on both the Republican and Democratic side have been spotted meandering and catching up with colleagues, taking selfies, shaking hands, and touching without masks.
It’s largely a normalized scene, an echo of the message the President is expected to deliver tonight about America’s pivot away from letting the virus dominate American life.
Masking — especially on the House floor — had become a massive partisan lightning rod here with some Republicans refusing so often to wear a mask over the last several months that they racked up thousands in fines.
There are still a handful of members that can be seen with masks including Rep. Jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York, and others, but Republicans and Democrats alike seem very comfortable shedding them after a long two years.
One thing that does remain this evening is the metal detectors outside the House floor. House members still expected to go through them. I am told senators, who will come over as one group, will not.
From CNN's Ted Barrett and Ali Zaslav
As she crossed the rotunda leading senators to the House floor at the US Capitol, Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters "We stand with Ukraine."
It was in response to a question about her message to that the country.
From CNN's Ethan Cohen and Melissa DePalo
President Biden will soon deliver the first State of the Union address of his presidency.
Last year’s address, was technically an “annual message” because it was Biden’s first. Since 1977, new presidents have not called their first speech before a Joint Session of Congress a "State of the Union." They are often referred to as an "annual message" or a message/address on a particular topic
The State of the Union is traditionally delivered in the chamber of the House of Representatives before members of both the House and the Senate, as well as justices of the Supreme Court, members of the president's Cabinet and the diplomatic corps.
Traditionally, the President is escorted into the House chamber by members of both the House and the Senate.
The arrival of the president is announced by the sergeant-at-arms of the House of Representatives.
The speaker of the House then introduces the president (In 2019, President Trump did not wait for Speaker Nancy Pelosi's introduction before beginning his remarks – it’s unclear whether this was an intentional breach of protocol or not).
Biden’s second address, like his first, comes in front of a united Democratic Congress.
Former Presidents Trump, Obama and Clinton all had complete control of Washington for their first two years in office before their respective parties lost control of at least one chamber of Congress during the midterm elections.
From CNN's Kevin Liptak and Betsy Klein
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is the designated survivor for President Biden’s first State of the Union address, a source tells CNN, staying away from the Capitol in an undisclosed location during Biden’s remarks.
What this means: Every year the administration appoints one member of the Cabinet to remain outside the House chamber during the State of the Union in case disaster strikes.
Last year, when Biden gave an address to a joint session of Congress, there was no designated survivor, with Cabinet members viewing the address from afar due to Covid restrictions.
Raimondo, the former governor of Rhode Island, became the Secretary of Commerce in March 2021.
A member of the President’s “Jobs Cabinet,” she has been an active surrogate for the administration on topics including a bipartisan push to expand economic competition with China and address global semiconductor shortages and the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed last November, as well as Biden’s stalled Build Back Better agenda.
Raimondo’s department works to promote job creation and economic growth. Raimondo is 10th in the presidential line of succession.
The presidential line of succession is outlined in the Presidential Succession Act of 1792, which was updated during the Truman administration in the Presidential Succession Act of 1947.
The current line of succession is:
Note: Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas was born in Cuba and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was born in Canada. Both were naturalized as US citizens, but they are ineligible to serve as President and therefore cannot be the designated survivor.
President Biden just left the White House and is now on his way to the US Capitol to deliver his first State of the Union address.
His remarks are expected to begin at 9 p.m. ET.
From CNN's Lauren Fox
Ahead of tonight's State of the Union address, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi named seven people to serve on the Congressional Escort Committee.
Those members are:
From CNN's Betsy Klein and Kate Sullivan
The worsening Russian invasion of Ukraine will likely be a key focus of President Biden’s first State of the Union address tonight at 9 p.m. ET.
Biden had hoped to use the speech as a political reset and an opportunity to highlight his economic agenda, but CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Maegan Vazquez, and Jeremy Diamond report the President and his team have revised portions of his speech to reflect the crisis. Between his frequent meetings and briefings about the Ukraine-Russia conflict, Biden has been preparing for his address by working with speechwriters and members of his policy team to adjust his message.
Here’s what we’re expecting the President’s speech to focus on tonight:
As CNN's Stephen Collinson writes this morning, it will be a balancing act: Biden must recognize the fatigue, suffering and pessimism in a nation exhausted by the Covid-19 pandemic, rocked by rising inflation and high gas prices and now suddenly thrown by Russia's invasion of Ukraine into the worst geopolitical crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Then he must somehow conjure optimism about better times to come ahead of this year's midterms as he faces ebbing confidence among Americans that he has the plans, skills and endurance to end the crises.
President Biden just gave a small preview of his State of the Union address in a tweet, where he shared a picture of his remarks. He is set to speak at the Capitol at 9 p.m. ET.
"Folks, I’m delivering my first State of the Union address tonight. I’ll be discussing the progress we’ve made together over the last year and my vision to build a better America. I hope you’ll join me and tune in at 9 PM ET to watch," Biden tweeted.
See Biden's tweet here:
CNN's DJ Judd contributed to this post.