CNN
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President Donald Trump will address a joint session of the 119th Congress on Tuesday for the first time in his second term. House Speaker Mike Johnson formally invited Trump in late January to speak, asking the president to share his “America First vision for our legislative future.”
Although this speech isn’t technically a “State of the Union” address, it’s a similarly orchestrated affair full of pomp and ceremony. It’s an opportunity for Trump to outline his administration’s goals and address the nation’s most pressing issues. Every recent president since Ronald Reagan has delivered remarks to a joint session of Congress shortly following inauguration, according to the University of California at Santa Barbara’s American Presidency Project.
When Trump takes the dais on Tuesday night, Vice President JD Vance and Johnson are expected to be seated behind him on either side.
In front of the president, Cabinet members, Supreme Court justices, Joint Chiefs of Staff, former members of Congress and members of the diplomatic corps will be seated. Seats in the rest of the chamber are not assigned, according to the Congressional Research Service. Senators and House members are seated on a first-come, first-served basis.
Presidents and first ladies also typically invite about two dozen guests to sit in the gallery, to help put a human face to a president’s message for both policymakers and viewers at home.
One person will be absent during the speech: the designated survivor. The designated survivor is a member of the Cabinet chosen to remain in a secure location during the speech in case of catastrophe, to ensure continuity of government. David Shulkin, the secretary of the Department Veterans Affairs during Trump’s first term, was assigned the role during the president’s address in 2017.
