President Joe Biden kicks off his speech with shout outs to lawmakers of both parties.

He says that he starting his speech by congratulating Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who is seated behind him.

He also congratulates Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, who took over as House minority leader from Nancy Pelosi. Jeffries, Biden notes, is the first black House leader in history.

He also congratulates Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, who he says is the longest serving person to ever hold that role.

Also getting kudos from Biden are Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, and Pelosi, who he calls the "greatest speaker in the history of the House of Representatives".

Image source, Getty Images

As President Biden prepares to speak, all but one member of his cabinet is in the same room.

That's because Labour Secretary Marty Walsh has been chosen as tonight’s designated survivor - the person entrusted with running the government in case disaster strikes at the Capitol.

Incidentally, Walsh is set to soon leave the administration to take over as head of the National Hockey League players' union.

Image source, Getty Images

US President Joe Biden has entered the House chamber to applause.

He's greeting lawmakers as he walks to the podium.

Standby for live updates and analysis throughout his roughly hour-long speech.

Some lawmakers are planning to wear a pin with the year “1870” to tonight’s State of the Union Address, and New Jersey Democrat Bonnie Watson Coleman wants people to ask why.

The badge, she said, is a call for police reforms. It honours Henry Truman, who was killed by a police officer in Philadelphia in 1870, the first time a free, unarmed black man was murdered by police, Watson Coleman told SiriusXM radio on Monday.

“I wanted to do something … that reminded people of what's been happening far too often in our country right now,” Watson Coleman said.

“I thought, well, if I do something that isn't that easily understood, someone's going to say, ‘What is that?’ And I'll have the chance to talk to them about what this pin represents.”

She said members of the Democratic Caucus, the Black Caucus and the Progressive Caucus will wear the pin - as well as anyone else who wants one before she runs out her supply of 100.

They will wear the pins alongside the parents of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old father who died last month after being beaten by members of the Memphis police force and whose death has sparked renewed calls for police reform.

Other members of Congress have so far been spotted wearing crayon pins, to symbolise childhood education, and pins of the flag of Ukraine.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has reportedly warned his fellow Republicans to watch their tongues during Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.

“The cameras are on” and the “mics are hot,” he told them on Tuesday morning, according to a CNN report.

The Republican leader also took a public jab at his Democratic predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, for dramatically ripping up a copy of Donald Trump’s speech after his 2020 State of the Union address, calling it a “childish game”.

There is a growing list of modern interruptions and distractions during presidential addresses.

Last year, Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert interrupted Biden by shouting about the 13 US soldiers who died during the 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

She and Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene also chanted “build the wall” during a section of Biden's speech on immigration.

In 2010 a Supreme Court Justice, Samuel Alito, made headlines for his response to Barack Obama’s pointed criticism of a recently decided case striking down a portion of campaign finance law.

The most memorable presidential interruption, however, came during Obama’s 2009 address to Congress (technically not a State of the Union).

Congressman Joe Wilson shouted “you lie!” as the president spoke about the benefits of his healthcare reform proposal.

Laura Trevelyan
BBC World News presenter

Democratic strategist Amanda Renteria tells me that tonight's speech is the launch of President Biden’s re-election campaign. In her opinion, he’s got to show the American people he has a story to tell and that he’s fit and vigorous and ready to go.

Republican strategist Ron Christie says that he agrees that there’s going to be pressure on Biden to perform well tonight. His poll numbers are low. A lot of Democrats don’t want him to run in 2024. This should be the launch of Biden 2.0, says Ron.

Amanda Renteria hopes Biden will reach across the aisle and talk about his moonshot to cure cancer, and his plans for veterans. That's real people speak she says, expecting to see less emphasis from the president on the threat to American democracy, one of his themes since the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

Laura is presenting President Biden: State of the Union Address special on BBC World News, which you can watch by clicking play at the top of this page

Jonathan Csapo
Reporting from Capitol Hill

President Joe Biden arrives on Capitol Hill ahead of his second State of the Union speech facing headwinds with both the public and Congress.

Less than half of Americans approve of his job performance – and the Republican majority in the House is promising a fight over increasing the debt ceiling – a crucial piece of legislature for the economy.

But tonight is Biden's chance to sell himself – the TV audience for State of the Union is the biggest a president will get outside of inauguration day – and an important opportunity for a president reportedly seeking re-election.

You can stream our live coverage of the State of the Union by clicking on the play button at the top of the page. The vice-president is speaking now.

How Biden delivers this speech matters just as much tonightpublished at 01:48 Greenwich Mean Time 8 February 2023

01:48 GMT 8 February 2023

Sarah Smith
North America Editor, Washington

How President Joe Biden delivers this speech will matter just as much as what he says.

As the oldest US president in history, the age issue is a serious concern for Biden.

Voters frequently bring it up as one of their biggest concerns. Even among those who support the president

He is now 80 years old. If he wins a second term in 2024 he would be 86 by the time he leaves office

To calm voters’ concerns that he may be too old for the job he has to appear vigorous and energetic.

Biden’s age may not matter so much if facing Donald Trump who is only four years younger than him.

A much younger rival like Ron DeSantis, 44, could turn the election into a generational struggle.

Especially because Democrats rely heavily on younger voters, between 19 and 29, to send one of their candidates to the White House

To convince Americans his age doesn’t matter Biden must also try to not to make too many of the verbal slips he is so famous for.

Even though he has been “mis-speaking” for decades, these days his mistakes are blamed on his advancing years.

Lawmakers can now be seen streaming into the chamber of Congress.

Vice-President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have taken their places behind the president's podium.

Joe Biden is en route to the Capitol.

You can stream live at the top of this page.

Nomia Iqbal
Reporting from the House chamber

Image source, Getty Images

Inside the House chamber, lawmakers from both sides are taking up their seats. Controversial Republican congressman George Santos is sat on an aisle seat - a perfect spot where the world can see you shaking the president's hand and exchanging a few words.

Perhaps President Biden is expected to tell a divided Congress he wants unity but the Republicans are already causing some drama for him ahead of the speech.

Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green has been walking around the US Capitol with a white helium ballon. It’s highly unlikely she’ll he able to bring it into the chamber.

But the China spy balloon is the unwanted guest Republicans have invited to Biden’s party - they want to know why it took the administration so long to shoot it down.

They say it is the number one thing the president needs to address.

You can read more about the China spy balloon here.

Joe Biden is expected to soon depart the White House and make the short journey down to Capitol Hill.

Other dignitaries - including his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, and most members of his cabinet - will be inside the congressional chamber when he arrives.

In about 30 minutes, the House Sergeant at Arms will announce the president's arrival with the words: "Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States."

Biden will then be escorted into the chamber to his podium.

Image source, Getty Images

It’s rare that the biggest honour of the night is given to the person not invited to the speech, but that is the case for the State of the Union.

On the night of the speech, one member of President Biden’s cabinet will be deemed the designated survivor.

This person does not attend the speech, nor are they anywhere near the Capitol building, in order to ensure the line of succession can continue if the president, vice-president, and other succeeding members in the line are incapacitated in some way.

Since 2003, when fear of terror attacks were heightened in the wake of September 11, both bodies of Congress also designate someone to skip the speech as well.

The designated survivor exists to ensure government can continue to run should the worst case scenario occur.

We'll let you know as soon as this year's designated survivor is announced by the White House, and in the meantime, you can read more about the designated survivor here.

Franz Strasser
BBC News, Washington

President Joe Biden used 7,705 spoken words for his 2021 State of the Union address which pales in comparison to Jimmy Carter's longest address of 33,667. It's worth noting, though, that Carter's address was written - not spoken.

Image source, .

Image source, .

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent

After recent two mass shootings in California, Joe Biden has renewed his calls for federal gun control legislation, including a ban on high-powered assault-style rifles.

Such a ban, or any regulations of similar scope, faces numerous formidable obstacles, however.

Perhaps the greatest, the bane of many of Biden’s liberal policy priorities, is Republican control of the House of Representatives.

Conservative lawmakers in the chamber have recently taken to assault-rifle pins to show their support for gun rights.

Last year may have given some gun-control advocates hope - for the first time in nearly three decades, Congress enacted new bipartisan firearm regulation.

The changes were modest, however.

Even if Biden’s new proposals were to make it through the House, they would face procedural obstacles in the US Senate and federal courts that have recently taken an expansive view of constitutional protections for gun rights.

A majority of Americans may tell pollsters they are in favour of new gun regulations, but there’s little chance the president’s latest push will amount to anything more than an applause line.

Image source, Getty Images

Republicans on Tuesday night will be seeking to grab some of the spotlight and holding their own, separate address to the nation.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Republican governor from Arkansas and former White House press secretary, is slated to deliver a Republican address to the US from Little Rock, Arkansas, later.

During her speech, Huckabee Sanders plans to take aim at the Democratic party and its leader, Biden, for being “unwilling” to defend the US border, US skies and the US people, an aide told the BBC’s US partner, CBS News.

The Arkansas governor also plans to stress that the Republican Party wants safer communities, jobs and “freedom from the woke mob in state capitals”, the official said.

As the youngest governor in the US, she also plans to draw a contrast between herself and Biden - the oldest president in the US - and call for a “new generation of leadership”, the Huckabee Sanders official said.

Ultimately, she will claim that the choice is “no longer between right or left - the choice is between normal or crazy”, the aide said.