President Biden's 2024 State of the Union address

Just as he’s done on the campaign trail, President Joe Biden touted his administration’s efforts to reduce the burden of prescription drug costs. In his address, he also pointed out the savings for taxpayers. 

Facts First: It’s true that two of the main drug price provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, which Democrats pushed through Congress in 2022, are expected to reduce the deficit by $160 billion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. In total, the law’s drug measures are expected to reduce the deficit by $237 billion, though delaying the implementation of a Trump administration drug rebate rule accounts for the difference.  

The Inflation Reduction Act authorized Medicare to negotiate the prices of certain costly prescription drugs for the first time. This measure is expected to save $98.5 billion over a decade, according to the CBO. Negotiations for the initial 10 drugs are underway. The final prices will be made public by September and take effect in 2026. 

The law also requires drugmakers to pay a rebate to the federal government if they raise the prices of certain medications faster than the rate of inflation. This is expected to save $63.2 billion over a decade, according to the CBO.    

Biden's third State of the Union speech clocked in at 1:07:23, coming in about five minutes shorter than last year's address.

See how this speech compares to the shortest and longest speeches in recent history.

President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass two pieces of voting rights legislation — the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

In his State of the Union address, the president said that a “transformational moment of history” happened on this day nearly 60 years ago.

But today, there are still issues that threaten the right to vote: “Voter suppression. Election subversion. Unlimited dark money. Extreme gerrymandering.”

Biden said it is “time to do more than talk,” as he urged lawmakers to vote on the bills.

President Joe Biden baited Republicans in his address Thursday by praising the bipartisan Senate border bill, which included some of the country's toughest border security measures, eliciting a back and forth with GOP lawmakers. 

Republican Sen. James Lankford, a key negotiator on the bipartisan border deal, who faced pushback from members of his own party, stared ahead, appearing to nod as Biden ticked through elements of the bill — including how it should shore up federal resources and include an emergency authority that would allow him to shut down the border if certain triggers are met. 

The president then put the blame squarely on former President Donald Trump for tanking the bill, which was the culmination of months of negotiations between a bipartisan group of senators and Biden administration officials.

 In what seemed to be off-the-cuff remarks during his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden appeared to misspeak in implying that Russia had better prescription drug prices for consumers than the United States.

Biden was speaking about his administration’s moves to lower prescription drug costs. The United States has some of the most expensive prescription drug prices in the world.

President Joe Biden engaged in a back-and-forth with Republicans from the House Floor Thursday, calling lawmakers out for supporting Trump-era tax cuts at the expense of Social Security and Medicare.

It’s the second time Biden clashed with Republican lawmakers over funding for the two entitlement programs during the State of the Union in as many years, In 2023, Biden called out “some Republicans” for looking “to sunset” the two programs, prompting boos from the Republican side of the aisle.

President Joe Biden in his address tonight said that he wants to harness the promise of artificial intelligence but also protect Americans from the danger the technology poses.

That’s a tricky balance, and one even the tech industry isn’t quite sure how to achieve. In fact, many of the loudest voices warning about AI are coming from within the tech world itself.

Just this week, a Microsoft employee sent a letter to the US Federal Trade Commission warning the company’s artificial intelligence systems could create harmful images, including sexualized images of women.

Financial regulators in the US have also said last year that the use of artificial intelligence poses a risk to the financial system.

And researchers have flagged the potential for AI image generators to produce political misinformation ahead of elections in the United States and dozens of other countries this year.

Some members of Congress were seen wearing the pins with "153" on them that were passed out by Democratic Rep. Brad Schneider.

The "153" stands for the number of days that hostages have been in custody in Gaza, according to a Democratic aide.

After the October 7 attack, Israel has a right to go after Hamas, President Joe Biden said during his State of the Union address on Thursday. But Israel also has a “fundamental responsibility” to protect civilians in Gaza, the president said.

As the humanitarian situation in Gaza deteriorates, Biden announced that the United States will establish a temporary pier near the enclave that will be used to deliver supplies.

The president also said his administration, along with other countries, has been working to reach an agreement for a temporary ceasefire to release Israeli hostages.