State of the Union speech expected to touch on military, budget issues

President Joe Biden is scheduled to deliver his annual State of the Union address to Congress on March 7, with several military-connected issues expected to be among his talking points.

Although policies directly impacting American troops or their families are not expected to be featured in the national speech, Biden is expected to talk about continued U.S. military support for Ukraine in their war against Russia and U.S. assistance to Israel in their ongoing military operations in Gaza.

He is also expected to broach Congress’ ongoing budget impasse. Federal agencies — including the Defense Department — have been operating on short-term budget extensions for five months because of political fights over spending levels.

White House budget planners are expected to unveil their plans for the fiscal 2025 federal budget on March 11, but lawmakers are unlikely to have the fiscal 2024 year-long spending plan finalized before then. Last week, House and Senate members approved another short-term budget extension, with promises of finishing a full budget plan by the end of March.