Your NPR news source
US Capitol dome

The Dome of the U.S. Capitol Building is visible from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Andrew Harnik

Politics

State of the Union: President Biden delivers his election-year address

By  NPR Staff
   

President Biden is delivering his State of the Union address tonight before a joint session of Congress and will make his case for a second term in office to one of the biggest television audiences he will have all year.

It’s happening just two days after former President Donald Trump dominated Republican primaries on Super Tuesday and became the last remaining major candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination. Polls currently show the race between Biden and Trump will be tight. This speech gives Biden a chance to draw a contrast with Trump on issues where he thinks he can energize Democratic supporters and persuade independents.

The Latest
WEAPONS-063023-06.jpg
Criminal Justice
Highland Park readies for return of annual parade two years after tragedy
“We are not a weak community. We are a strong community,” says Highland Park resident Ashbey Beasley.
By Michael Puente
 
Rifles on display in Law Weapons & Supply in Naperville, owned by Robert Bevis.
Politics
U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear challenge to Illinois' assault weapons ban
Groups challenging the law made their bid to the U.S. Supreme Court after last fall’s ruling from the federal appeals court in Chicago, which found that weapons covered by Illinois’ assault-weapons ban don’t have Second Amendment protection.
By Jon Seidel
 
REVIEW-071321-5.jpg
Cook County
A former employee of a Cook County agency sues over his firing, alleging retaliation
A former aide filed the whistleblower suit against Board of Review Commissioner Samantha Steele and her top aide in federal court last week.
By Dan Mihalopoulos
 
Former Ald. Edward M. Burke and his wife Anne Burke enter a waiting car outside the Dirksen Federal Courthouse after he was sentenced to two years in prison Monday.
Politics
Ex-Ald. Edward M. Burke used Catholic card in bid to soften sentence in corruption case
It’s unclear whether Catholic figures appealing for leniency in letters to the judge affected the two-year sentence given to Burke. But priests, nuns and lay church leaders went to bat heavy for him — after years of the ex-alderman funneling campaign cash to Catholic causes.
By Robert Herguth
 
Protesters square off with Chicago police at Kinzie and State streets May 30, 2020, during a protest of George Floyd’s murder.
DNC 2024
'Serious concerns' remain after CPD revises mass arrest policy ahead of Democratic Convention
A coalition of community organizations says the policy still fails to draw a line between crowds protected under the First Amendment and those engaged in illegal activity such as looting.
By Tom Schuba