MICHELE NORRIS, Host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris.
MELISSA BLOCK, Host:
The State of the Union address is a solemn affair. The president lays out goals and accomplishments before a gathering of the powerful: Supreme Court justices, the military Joint Chiefs and, of course, Congress.
T: NPR's Andrea Seabrook tells us who's going with whom.
ANDREA SEABROOK: Now, in order to understand just how different this will be, you have to know how things usually work. First of all, the House of Representatives does not have assigned seating - at all, ever. In fact, says Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, if you watch the House on any normal day, the lawmakers milling around don't often sort themselves by party.
NANCY PELOSI: Sometimes, it comes down to region - you know, the Pennsylvania corner; the Massachusetts folks are here; sometimes, it's the Hispanic Caucus is here; and the Black Caucus. Just depends on what the conversation is at the moment.
SEABROOK: Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin told Fox News, he found a colleague from his home state.
DICK DURBIN: My new Senate Republican colleague from Illinois, Mark Kirk, and I are going to sit together. I'm bringing the popcorn; he's bringing a Coke with two straws. I'm just kidding, of course.
SEABROOK: And the quintessential middle-America Republican, Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn, will sit with the quintessential East Coast Democrat, New York Senator Chuck Schumer.
CHARLES SCHUMER: We're going to sit together at the State of the Union, and we hope that many others will follow us. Now, that's symbolic, but maybe it just sets a tone and everything gets a little bit more civil.
SEABROOK: Of course, it's an idea that has its critics.
MIKE PENCE: You know, there's a lot of talk these days around here about where members of Congress are going to sit during the State of the Union address.
SEABROOK: Indiana Republican Mike Pence spoke on the House floor.
PENCE: Well, I've been in Congress for 10 years. I learned a long time ago, it doesn't really matter where you sit, it matters where you stand.
SEABROOK: But Coburn, the Republican from Oklahoma, told NBC the two parties often don't approach each other with respect.
TOM COBURN: We talk past each other, not to each other.
SEABROOK: Of course, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi pointed out that, as speaker...
PELOSI: I have been sitting next to Vice President Cheney for a long time.
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
SEABROOK: Andrea Seabrook, NPR News.