Republicans are tapping Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to deliver the Republican response to Biden’s State of the Union address, seizing an opportunity to feature a rising female leader in the party.

Reynolds’ staunch conservative approach on "culture war" issues, such as prohibiting "critical race theory" in schools, and opposition to strict mandates and statewide lockdowns during the pandemic make her an appropriate fit for the message Republicans want to send.

In a preview of tonight’s speech, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Republicans plan to offer an "optimistic alternative method to Joe Biden" as it relates to his foreign policy, rising gas prices and inflation, the border, crime, and the Biden administration’s pandemic response.

-ABC News' Lalee Ibssa

President Joe Biden told reporters he plans to talk during his address about his "determination to see to it" that Western allies are "on the exact same page" over sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

"Because that’s the one thing that gives us power to impose severe consequences on Putin for what he’s done and one of the few things that I’m confident he’s going to have think twice about, long term, as this continues to bite," Biden said during a lunch with network TV anchors Tuesday.

"It’s the unity of NATO and the West," he added.

-ABC "World News Tonight" anchor David Muir

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, will not attend the State of the Union in person, ABC News has confirmed.

The president is expected to acknowledge the historic nomination in the speech, sources said. If confirmed, Jackson would be the first African American woman on the high court.

-ABC News' Devin Dwyer and Molly Nagle

Just hours away from Biden delivering his first State of the Union speech, Democrats are sparring with each other over the response.

Not the Republican response -- but the growing number of Democrats giving speeches responding to a president of their own party.

Progressive Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan is delivering a response for the Working Families Party. She says she will support Biden’s agenda but could take moderates to task for blocking the agenda in the Senate, likely targeting West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin.

Rep. Colin Allred of Texas is delivering a response from the Congressional Black Caucus.

And moderate Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., who is expected to criticize progressives (he told Axios Tlaib’s speech is the political equivalent of "slashing your own tires"), will give a bipartisan response with the centrist group No Labels.
-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel

Ahead Biden's first State of the Union address, House Republicans claimed the "state of our union is in a crisis," which they say is directly caused by Biden and House Democrats' "failed far-left socialist agenda."

"Tonight, President Biden will try to rewrite history of the past year and pass the buck instead of taking responsibility for the failures of his radical far-left Democrat agenda," the third-ranking House Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik said at a press briefing Tuesday.

Republicans are holding Biden personally responsible for several issues, from inflation to high gas prices to supply chain issues to the invasion of Ukraine.

"The war on Ukraine represents one of the greatest foreign policy failures in modern history," Stefanik said. "For months, President Biden failed to engage in meaningful deterrence against Russian aggression."

Ukrainian-American Rep. Victoria Spartz gave an emotional plea calling for the Biden administration to do more to help Ukraine.

"This is not a war, this is a genocide of the Ukrainian people," Spartz, who represents Indiana, told reporters. "They want to be free people. They want to be with the West."

-ABC News' Mariam Khan