State of the Union: Biden rebukes Putin, praises brave Ukrainians, offers 'unity agenda'

"We are stronger today than we were a year ago," the president said.

President Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union address as Russian strikes were killing civilians, forces were massing near Ukraine's capital Kyiv and Russian President Vladimir Putin showed no sign of backing down.


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House Republicans: 'The State of the Union is in crisis'

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


Biden on his plan to fight inflation

Biden will discuss his plan to fight inflation, which he says will aim to lower both costs and the deficit, according to an excerpt of his State of the Union address released by the White House.

"We have a choice. One way to fight inflation is to drive down wages and make Americans poorer. I have a better plan to fight inflation," he said in the prepared remarks.

"Lower your costs, not your wages. Make more cars and semiconductors in America. More infrastructure and innovation in America. More goods moving faster and cheaper in America. More jobs where you can earn a good living in America. And, instead of relying on foreign supply chains -- let’s make it in America," the speech continues.

"Economists call it 'increasing the productive capacity of our economy,'" the president said in the prepared remarks. "I call it building a better America."


Biden to say war in Ukraine was 'premeditated and unprovoked,' highlight strong NATO alliance

Biden will call out Russian President Vladimir Putin by name in his State of the Union address, saying that Putin's actions in Ukraine have solidified the NATO alliance, according to an excerpt of his prepared remarks released by the White House.

"Putin’s war was premeditated and unprovoked. He rejected efforts at diplomacy. He thought the West and NATO wouldn’t respond. And, he thought he could divide us here at home," Biden is expected to say. "Putin was wrong. We were ready."

-ABC News' Justin Ryan Gomez


Biden to signal new phase in pandemic

President Joe Biden tonight will shy away from any suggestion of "mission accomplished" when it comes to the pandemic, or even that the virus had morphed into an "endemic" state -- a term reserved to describe a virus that persists but is mostly predictable -- a White House official told ABC News.

Instead, the official described the president's speech as noting the nation is now able to "move forward safely in a way in which COVID no longer disrupts our lives the way it has previously."

The president also will "emphasize the need for the U.S. to remain vigilant in the face of an unpredictable virus, including by preparing for future variants," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss details in advance of the speech.

-ABC News' Anne Flaherty


Rep. Lauren Boebert booed after she yells out at moment Biden mentions his dead son

In an ill-timed moment, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., shouted at the president, blaming him for the deaths of the 13 U.S. servicemembers killed in an attack at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan last summer, as Biden spoke about veterans exposed to burn pits developing "cancer that would put them in a flag-draped coffin."

"You put them in, 13 of them!" she yelled.

But her words came out just as the president was about to mention the death of his son, Beau Biden, an Iraq War veteran who died from brain cancer in 2015.

"I know," Biden began, attempting to reference Beau. But before he could get the sentence out Boebert shouted.

The members in the chamber immediately booed her.

"One of those soldiers was my son, Major Beau Biden," the president continued. "I don’t know for sure if the burn pit that he lived near, that his hooch was near in Iraq and earlier than that, in Kosovo is the cause of his brain cancer, the diseases of so many other troops. But I am committed to finding out everything we can."

Boebert later addressed the moment on Twitter, saying, “When Biden said flag draped coffins I couldn't stay silent. I told him directly he did it. He put 13 in there. Our heroic servicemen and women deserve so much better.”

-ABC News' Mariam Khan