United States President Joe Biden will deliver his first State of the Union address to Congress and the American people on Tuesday, March 1, following an invitation from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday, the White House confirmed. 

“Thank you for your bold vision and patriotic leadership which have guided America out of crisis and into an era of great progress, as we not only recover from the pandemic but Build Back Better!,” Pelosi said in a letter to the President. 

“In that spirit, I am writing to invite you to address a Joint Session of Congress on Tuesday, March 1, to share your vision of the State of the Union.”

Biden’s will be the latest State of the Union address to be delivered by a President. The adress is usually slated to be held in January or sometimes in February. 

The delay this year can be attributed to a packed legislative calendar, a winter spike in COVID-19 cases driven by the omicron variant and the upcoming Winter Olympics, which ties up broadcast network time, according to the Associated Press. 

The last State of the Union address was delivered by then-President Donald Trump in February 2020 on the eve of his acquittal by the Senate in his first impeachment trial. 

Biden first addressed a joint session of Congress in April 2021, about 100 days into his time in the White House, which he used to promote twin infrastructure and domestic spending bills. Biden signed a slimmed-down and bipartisan version of the infrastructure proposal into law last year in crowning first-year legislative achievements.

The larger expansion of the social safety net passed the House, but Biden has struggled to secure enough Democratic support in the Senate for passage.

An address to Congress in the president’s first year is not an official State of the Union address, and Biden’s April speech bore little resemblance to one because of strict COVID-19 protocols. It was marked by limitations on attendance, with no guests allowed, and lawmakers seated on both the floor of the House chamber and the galleries above.

Officials said pandemic precautions for this year’s speech were still being worked out, though they expect it to look more like a traditional State of the Union address than last year’s remarks.

(With inputs from the Associated Press)