Biden to Hold First Formal News Conference on March 25

(Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden will hold his first formal news conference as president on March 25, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, as he promotes his $1.9 trillion pandemic relief measure and efforts to accelerate coronavirus vaccinations.

Biden signed his “American Rescue Plan” into law last week, and he and other top Democrats are fanning out across the country this week to tout its benefits. Biden is visiting Pennsylvania on Tuesday.

While Biden frequently takes a few questions at a time from reporters at White House events, his first official news conference comes later in his presidency than for his two predecessors. Both Barack Obama and Donald Trump held news conferences in February after they took office.

Biden, 78, seldom held news conferences as a presidential candidate, leading some of his opponents to accuse him of trying to avoid back-and-forth questioning from reporters. He has so far sat for two interviews since taking office, including one by CBS before the network’s broadcast of the Super Bowl, and one televised “town hall” event where he took questions from ordinary Americans.

His third interview as president is scheduled to be broadcast by ABC News this week.

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