Joe Biden pitches ambitious plan to reshape America in first major address to Congress - as it happened

• Plan includes funding for universal preschool, free college and childcare
• State of the union style speech to tout his accomplishments
• Includes an appeal to working-class voters on economic recovery plans
• White House announces sweeping plan for childcare and pre-school

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1) The coronavirus pandemic cast a strange pall on the yearly political tradition.

As Biden took the podium, he brushed past a sparse, masked crowd. He fist-bumped and elbow-tapped lawmakers and members of his cabinet - greeting a crowd that was physically distanced, and ideologically divided.

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The progressive wing of the Democratic party praised Joe Biden for his handling of the Covid-19 crisis in a response to the president's first address to Congress, but urged the president to be bolder in tackling the climate crisis and economic inequality, and to do more to address the burning crisis of structural racism in our country".

Jamaal Bowman, a Democratic congressman from New York, gave a speech responding to Biden's address shortly after the president finished his address, as progressives seek to convince Biden to pursue more ambitious policies.

Related: Progressive Democrats praise Biden on Covid but call for bolder action