President Obama will deliver his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress next Wednesday, January 27th, at 9 pm Eastern time (6:00pm Pacific).
During his speech, the President will outline his priorities for the coming year as well as recount what he believes are the achievements from his first year in office. Some political insiders had suggested that the President might wait to deliver his State of the Union address until after Congress completes its work on the health care reform. But the White House ultimately decided against waiting beyond January for the address so that the President can use it to set the tone for the coming year.
In a State of the Union address, presidents typically preview policies and themes from their new budget, which comes out soon afterward. On Monday, administration officials confirmed that on February 1st Obama will submit his new budget for fiscal year 2011, which begins October 1, 2010.