WASHINGTON (Feb. 7, 2023)--President Joe Biden will deliver his State of the Union address on Feb. 7th during a joint session of Congress in the House of Representatives chamber. The President is expected to discuss immigration, the nation’s economy and food prices, the debt ceiling, health care and other issues that are top of mind for many Americans.
The George Washington University has experts available to talk about the issues in advance, during and after the speech, which will take place at 9 pm ET on Tuesday night. For interviews, please contact the GW Media Office at gwmedia
gwu [dot] edu.
Todd Belt, professor and director of the Political Management master’s program at the GW Graduate School of Political Management, is an expert on the presidency. Dr. Belt can preview President Biden’s address and explain how the State of the Union can impact the president’s political standing.
Paul Schiff Berman, professor of law at GW Law, is a constitutional law expert and one of the world’s foremost theorists on the interactions among legal systems. Professor Berman can discuss legal questions about presidential authority about the actions President Biden proposes.
Casey Burgat, assistant professor and director of the Legislative Affairs master’s program at the GW Graduate School of Political Management, is an expert on Congress. Dr. Burgat can shed light on the role of Congress in the State of the Union address, as both host and audience. He can also comment on the legislative agenda President Biden will lay out in his speech.
Michael Cornfield, a senior fellow at the GW College of Professional Studies’ Center for Excellence in Public Leadership, is an expert on political rhetoric. Dr. Cornfield can discuss the significance of the State of the Union address, offer his views on the quality of President Biden’s speech, and delve into the themes and rhetorical details the president uses in his address.
Matt Dallek, professor of political management, is a political historian who can place this year’s State of the Union address in historical context. Dr. Dallek can look back at the most significant State of the Union addresses and how presidents throughout history have approached the State of the Union speech and utilized it as a messaging and policymaking tool.
Peter Loge is an associate professor of media and public affairs and a former Obama administration official. Professor Loge can explore the State of the Union address from a political communications perspective and discuss the messaging tactics and strategies President Biden will employ as he addresses a joint session of Congress and the American people.
Sara Rosenbaum, the Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health, is an expert on how policy decisions, such as cuts to Medicaid and community health centers, affect vulnerable communities including immigrant and minority neighborhoods. Professor Rosenbaum is a leading public health law scholar who has devoted her career to issues such as health justice and the safety net system for medically underserved populations. She can also talk about access to healthcare, including expensive drugs, the post-Roe landscape and maternal and child health issues.
Jeffrey Levi, PhD, a professor of health policy and management at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health, is an expert on how policy decisions — such as cuts to public health funding, Medicaid — could hamper the United States’ ability to handle ongoing public health issues, including COVID-19. For 10 years, he was executive director of Trust for America’s Health, where he led annual assessments of the preparedness of states and the federal government. He can also talk about the White House plan to end the public health emergency around COVID in May.
Julia Strasser, director of the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health, can talk about access to reproductive health care now that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs decision last year.
-GW-