What Biden is likely to address in his State of the Union speech

When President Biden delivers his State of the Union address on Feb. 7, he will do so to a different Congress, a different nation and a different world than he did in his last State of the Union address. 

Inflation, although easing, is still eating away at the budgets of many American families. The war in Ukraine is approaching its one-year mark. And for the first time since he took office, President Biden faces a divided Congress, with Republicans controlling the lower chamber and Democrats controlling the upper chamber — a dynamic that's already setting up skirmishes on Capitol Hill. 

State of the Union speeches are typically written over weeks and months, and the painstaking editing process can drag on until the previous days and even hours before delivery. The speech is typically kept secret, with the exception of excerpts that are sometimes released to reporters shortly ahead of time.