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Update: Obama Agrees To Address Congress Thursday

President Obama just told House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) that he wants to address a joint session of Congress on Sept. 7, at 8 p.m. ET, to lay out his latest jobs plan.

Worth noting: 8 p.m. ET is also the planned starting time for the Sept. 7 Republican candidates presidential debate at the Reagan Library in California. It's scheduled to be broadcast on MSNBC, CNBS and Telemundo. Politico will be streaming it.

Watch for one of those times to perhaps change (we think we know which one it would more likely be).

Update at 9:25 p.m. ET: The president has agreed to the speaker's wishes and said he'll address Congress on Thursday, Sept. 8.

The White House in a statement said:

"The President is focused on the urgent need to create jobs and grow our economy, so he welcomes the opportunity to address a Joint Session of Congress on Thursday, September 8th and challenge our nation's leaders to start focusing 100% of their attention on doing whatever they can to help the American people."

Update at 4:30 p.m. ET: Well, it may be the president who has to adjust his calendar. Boehner's office just released a letter he's sent to the president suggesting that the joint session happen next Thursday (Sept. 8) instead.

According to the speaker:

"As your spokesperson today said, there are considerations about the Congressional calendar that must be made prior to scheduling such an extraordinary event.

"As you know, the House of Representatives and Senate are each required to adopt a Concurrent Resolution to allow for a Joint Session of Congress to receive the President. And as the Majority Leader announced more than a month ago, the House will not be in session until Wednesday, September 7, with votes at 6:30 that evening.

"With the significant amount of time — typically more than three hours — that is required to allow for a security sweep of the House Chamber before receiving a President, it is my recommendation that your address be held on the following evening, when we can ensure there will be no parliamentary or logistical impediments that might detract from your remarks.

"As such, on behalf of the bipartisan leadership and membership of both the House and Senate, I respectfully invite you to address a Joint Session of Congress on Thursday, September 8, 2011 in the House Chamber, at a time that works best for your schedule."

Update at 3:05 p.m. ET: Politico and NBC News say the debate will not be postponed.

Update at 12:55 p.m. ET. Republican Chairman Accuses White House Of Playing Politics.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus says on his Twitter page that:

"@BarackObama request to give jobs speech the same night as GOP Presidential debate is further proof this WH is all politics all the time"

Update at 12:30 p.m. ET: At the White House a moment ago, spokesman Jay Carney said the time and date was not chosen to conflict with the debate. "Of course not," he said, adding that "many factors," including Congress' availability, were part of the decision-making process.

Carney added that the debate is one "of many that's on one channel of many" and was "not enough reason to not have the speech at the time we decided to have it."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.