Four Supreme Court justices opted against attending President Biden’s State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday evening.
Biden greeted five of the high court’s nine justices — John Roberts, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson — shortly before he began his speech, according to video footage of the event. The four justices absent were Clarence Thomas, Sam Alito, Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch.
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The president spent a brief moment, in particular, with Jackson, the newest Supreme Court Justice and the first Black woman to hold a seat on the court. Jackson is the only justice Biden selected for the Supreme Court.
“The story of America is a story of progress and resilience,” Biden began his address. “Of always moving forward. Of never giving up. A story that is unique among all nations. We are the only country that has emerged from every crisis stronger than when we entered it. That is what we are doing again.”
The speech marks the second State of the Union that Biden has delivered since taking office in January 2021. It is the first such speech that he has given since Republicans won back majority control of the House.