Joe Biden to set out plans to reshape America in first address to Congress – live | US news

Biden’s speech this evening will take place at the US Capitol, the site of a violent insurrection on Jan 6, when Donald Trump supporters sought to overturn the results of the presidential election.

A Washington DC police officer injured that day at Capitol said it has been “difficult” to hear politicians downplay the events that day in an interview last night with CNN.

DC police officer Michael Fanone described how he was dragged down the Capitol steps, beaten and suffered a mild heart attack and a concussion by a mob which supported Trump.

“It’s been very difficult seeing elected officials and other individuals kind of whitewash the events of that day or downplay what happened,” Fanone told CNN. “Some of the terminology that was used, like ‘hugs and kisses’ and ‘very fine people,’ is very different from what I experienced and what my co-workers experienced on the 6th.”

Last month, Trump lied and said rioters were “hugging and kissing” police during the attack. CNN host Don Lemon asked Fanone about Trump’s comments and the officer responded:

“I think it’s dangerous,” Fanone, 40, said. “It is very much not the experience I had on the 6th. I experienced a group of individuals who were trying to kill me to accomplish their goal.”

Fanone joined the police after Sep 11. While defending the Capitol on 6 Jan, a rioter shocked Fanone with a stun gun, triggering the mild heart attack. He said he has also experienced PTSD because of the events that day.

“I experienced the most brutal, savage hand-to-hand combat of my entire life, let alone my policing career, which spans almost two decades” Fanone said. “This was nothing I had ever thought would be a part of my law enforcement career.”

In Biden’s address to Congress tonight, he is expected to touch on issues including Covid-19, immigration and the president’s sweeping plan to reshape the economy’s social infrastructure, the American Families Plan.

Biden last night unveiled the $1.8tn plan to invest in a national childcare program, universal preschool, tuition-free community college, health insurance subsidies and tax cuts for low- and middle-income workers.

He is also expected to speak about his administration’s response to Covid-19 and the status of the national vaccine campaign.

On immigration, Biden will call on Congress to pass a proposal he introduced on his first day in office, according to the Washington Post. The bill includes a pathway to citizenship for the country’s 11 million undocumented immigrants.

Good morning and welcome to the US politics live blog. Joe Biden today will deliver his first joint address to Congress on Wednesday night, marking his first 100 days in office.

This will function different from past presidential addresses to Congress because of Covid-19. There will be no guests and fewer than half of Congress is being allowed to attend in person. Most of the Cabinet too will watch from home.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a briefing on Tuesday that only the secretary of state and secretary of defense will attend.

“While the speech will, of course, look and feel different from past years, the president will preserve a few traditions, including the walk down the center aisle that we have seen presidents do for many years,” Psaki said. “Of course, he’ll be wearing a mask for that. He’ll remove the mask when he delivers his speech.”

We’ll have more on the speech and the day’s politics throughout the day.