Biden won't deliver speech to Congress until after vote on coronavirus bill, Psaki says

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Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., discusses the Senate gearing up to take up the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Biden will wait to address a joint session of Congress until after Congress decides on the American Rescue Plan, his coronavirus relief package.

No date for the address has yet been scheduled, even though the president had suggested it would take place in February. Psaki, during Wednesday's briefing, explained the delay.

BIDEN STILL HAS NOT YET SCHEDULED A DATE FOR HIS FIRST ADDRESS TO A JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS

"When it became clear, which it should have been from the beginning, that the American Rescue Plan would take until about, hopefully, about mid-March to get passed and signed into law, we made a decision internally that we weren't going to have the president propose his forward looking agenda beyond that," Psaki said, noting that parts of Biden's "Build Back Better" agenda are "still being determined" and that there are still discussions ongoing "internally."

Psaki maintained, though, that he would not deliver his address "until after that bill is signed, until after those checks are going out to Americans, until after that vaccine money is going out, and after the money is going out to schools."

Psaki's comments come after the president endorsed a plan from moderate Democrats to narrow income eligibility for the third round of stimulus checks in his nearly $2 trillion coronavirus relief package, a Democratic source said Wednesday.

Under the latest proposal, Americans earning $75,000 or less would receive the fully promised $1,400 payment. But the checks would phase out faster for individuals at higher income levels than in the version passed Saturday by House Democrats, with individuals making $80,000 a year or more and couples making $160,000 a year, or higher, no longer qualifying for the money.

The House version of the bill would also send the $1,400 payments to individuals earning $75,000 or below each year, but the money would phase out slower, with the eligibility cut-off at $100,000 for individuals and $200,000 per year for couples.

That means individuals earning between $80,000 and $100,000, and couples earning between $160,000 and $200,000, are newly excluded from a partial check under the newest plan endorsed by the Biden administration.

Stimulus check eligibility emerged as a major point of contention between different ideological factions of the Democratic Party. The party can't afford to lose the support of even a single Senate Democrat, as it needs all 50 members to pass the measure via simple majority with a procedural tool known as budget reconciliation.

BIDEN TIGHTENS $1400 STIMULUS CHECK INCOME LIMITS AMID PRESSURE FROM MODERATE DEMOCRATS

Lawmakers are racing to send the legislation to Biden's desk before March 14, when more than 11 million Americans will lose their jobless aid when two key federal jobless aid programs created a year ago under the CARES Act — and extended in the $900 billion relief package that Congress passed in December — lapse.

Meanwhile, as for his first address to Congress, past presidents have traditionally given a speech to Congress during their first year in office, often in February. An address to a joint session of Congress is like a State of the Union, though it technically is not called that until the president's second year in office.

Typically, new presidents deliver their addresses just weeks after the inauguration.

Former President George H.W. Bush delivered one of the earliest addresses to a joint session, taking place on Feb. 9, 1989. Former President Donald Trump delivered one of the latest — his address was on Feb. 28, 2017.

Former President Barack Obama delivered his address on Feb. 24, 2009; former President George W. Bush delivered his on Feb. 27, 2001; and former President Bill Clinton delivered his on Feb. 17.

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Presidents, during their first congressional address, tend to establish the tone of their new administration, with optimistic language to look ahead, and to set their legislative agenda as well as outline their positions on a range of policy issues.

Biden, since taking office, has signed dozens of executive orders, actions and directives, with Biden officials telling Fox News that the moves are "previews" of the agenda items the president will push in Congress. They have been focused on environmental regulations, the climate crisis, immigration policies, racial justice, health care and more.

FOX Business' Megan Henney and Blake Burman contributed to this report.