Washington — The saying about actual property — location, location, location — has some reality for the annual State of the Union handle, too, in describing who sits the place. Essentially the most coveted spots are these near the president within the Home chamber in the course of the speech.
On Tuesday night time, President Trump will ship the primary official State of the Union handle of his second time period, since final 12 months’s was technically a joint handle to Congress. Washington’s most vital political officers shall be there — apart from the designated survivor. Cupboard members, members of Congress and the Supreme Court docket justices, representing all three branches of presidency, are anticipated to attend. Usually, essentially the most highly effective officers sit closest to the president. The Home gallery accommodates lots of of seats past the member seats on the chamber ground.
Here is who sits the place.
Who sits behind the president?
The vice chairman and speaker of the Home, the 2 leaders subsequent in line for the presidency, sit straight behind the president. On this case, that is Vice President JD Vance and Republican Home Speaker Mike Johnson. From the viewers’ perspective, the vice chairman sits to the left, whereas the speaker sits to the correct.
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When Washington has a divided authorities, that seating association has often led to awkward moments, similar to when former Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped up pages of the president’s speech after he concluded in 2020.
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In a divided Washington, it is not unusual for a Home speaker, if the speaker is from a special celebration than the president, to stay seated, whereas the vice chairman stands and applauds the president’s remarks. That’s unlikely to occur Tuesday night time, since each Vance and Johnson are Republicans and vocal defenders of the president.
The place do the Supreme Court docket justices sit?
Whereas not all the Supreme Court docket justices are all the time current for the SOTU, lots of them are. They’re seated in a entrance row of the Home chamber ground, signifying their vital and distinctive position in stewarding the Structure. In 2025, Chief Justice John Roberts and Affiliate Justices Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett attended Mr. Trump’s joint handle.
This 12 months might be a little bit awkward for the jusitices, because the handle is going down 4 days after the Supreme Court docket dealt a significant blow to the president, ruling that he doesn’t have the authority to impose sweeping tariffs underneath an emergency powers regulation. It has been one in every of Mr. Trump’s signature insurance policies in his second time period, and after the ruling, he vowed to depend on different authorities to impose tariffs on imports.
The Supreme Court docket is issuing opinions on each the morning of the State of the Union and the morning after, making it a late night for justices who attend the speech.
The place is the primary woman’s field?
The primary woman’s field, because the phrase field implies, shouldn’t be on the chamber ground, however slightly, within the gallery seating above. The field is on the correct, from the viewers’ perspective.
For many years, first women have been inviting Individuals they need to each honor and draw consideration to for the speech. The second woman sometimes sits within the first woman’s field as effectively. The primary woman might invite as much as about two dozen friends.
The place do members of Congress sit?
Seating is kind of first-come, first-serve for members of Congress for the State of the Union, so many arrive early. Members sometimes sit with these in their very own celebration, with Republicans on one aspect and Democrats on the opposite.
Senators sometimes occupy rows nearer to the entrance, and Home members occupy rows nearer to the again.
The place do Cupboard members sit?
Cupboard members often have front-row seats.
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What does the seating chart seem like from above?
Though neither the Trump administration nor Congress have launched a seating chart for Tuesday’s State of the Union, here’s what seating appeared like for one in every of former President Joe Biden’s addresses.
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