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Guthrie expects debt ceiling, Chinese balloon to loom over Biden's State of the Union speech

Office of U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie

U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie of Kentucky says he’ll be listening for a willingness to compromise during President Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday night.

Biden will stand before a joint session of Congress for the first time since voters in the mid-term elections handed control of the House to Republicans.

New House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will be seated behind the president wielding the gavel. The two have been at an impasse over the nation’ borrowing limit, which Guthrie expects will be one of the topics in the speech.

The Bowling Green Republican said his party remains opposed to raising the debt limit unless Biden accepts cuts in federal spending.

“Even President Biden voted against the debt limit increase in 2004 when he was in the Senate. I don’t have the direct quote in front of me, but it was essentially what we’re saying, if you don’t change the trajectory of your spending, why keep increasing the debt limit," Guthrie said in an interview with WKU Public Radio. "President Obama when he was a US Senator voted against the debt limit for the same reasons.”

President Biden has said that raising the cap isn’t up for negotiation and Congress must pay the nation’s bills or otherwise face economic disaster.

Biden will speak to a politically divided Congress as the nation also confronts growing tensions with China. The speech comes days after the U.S. military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew across the country. Guthrie said he wants the hear Biden stand up to the nation’s enemies.

“We want to hear that we’re gonna stand tall in the world and we’re gonna get respect. That was so provocative for China to have done that," stated Guthrie. "The question is why have we gotten to the situation where our relationship with China has deteriorated to the point where they feel like they can do this to us?"

After the balloon was shot down this week, CNN and other outlets reported there were numerous sightings of similar Chinese high-altitude balloons during President Trump’s time in office.

In addition to addressing the tensions with China, Guthrie says he’ll be listening for how President Biden makes the case for sustaining the nation’s billions of dollars of support for Ukraine as the war with Russia nears the one-year mark.

WKU Public Radio will offer live coverage of the State of the Union speech Tuesday night beginning at 8:00 p.m CT\9:00 p.m.ET.

Lisa is a Scottsville native and WKU alum. She has worked in radio as a news reporter and anchor for 18 years. Prior to joining WKU Public Radio, she most recently worked at WHAS in Louisville and WLAC in Nashville. She has received numerous awards from the Associated Press, including Best Reporter in Kentucky. Many of her stories have been heard on NPR.