Masks come off

The masks come off at Biden’s State of the Union address

Most attendees left their face coverings at home in accordance with the masks-optional guidance issued by the Capitol’s attending physician this week.

By MEGAN MESSERLY

Few people wore masks in the House chambers during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday night.

Most members of Congress, Supreme Court justices and Cabinet members left their face coverings at home for the president’s address, in accordance with the masks-optional guidance issued by the Capitol’s attending physician earlier this week. A handful of Democratic members of Congress showed up sporting face coverings anyway.

Among the masked-up members of Congress were Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), as well as Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and Jim Langevin (D-R.I.).

Markey, in a tweet, said he decided to wear a mask “because we all need to remember that the immunocompromised and those over 60 remain at higher risk of severe illness and hospitalization from COVID-19.”

“For those who are vulnerable, continue to be vigilant and mask up,” Markey said.

While all attendees were required to show proof of a negative test before the Tuesday event, the almost entirely maskless crowd represented a stark visual departure from the president’s speech to Congress last year, where attendance was restricted to 200 fully masked people.

After his speech, a maskless Biden spent more than 15 minutes mingling with attendees, in some cases pressing his forehead to theirs and speaking in close proximity. While the president went without a mask in crowded situations as Covid was easing last year, the State of the Union is the largest maskless indoor event the 79-year-old president has attended since the Omicron surge hit.

The Office of the Attending Physician has adopted the CDC’s new model for monitoring community spread of Covid-19, which puts spread in the Washington, D.C., area in the “green,” or low, status for transmission.