President Biden to visit Philadelphia on Monday

On Monday, President Joe Biden will visit Philadelphia to announce a $22.4 million SAFER grant award that will be used to reopen three fire companies in the city, plus provide funding for firefighters’ salary and benefits. 

According to the White House, the funding will allow the Philadelphia Fire Department to reopen three fire companies: Engine 6, Ladder 1, and Ladder 11, and more.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Biden will meet with firefighters at Ladder 1, a fire company in the Fairmount neighborhood of Philadelphia that was decommissioned close to 15 years ago.

The president will pay tribute to the victims of a 2022 house fire in the Fairmount neighborhood, the Inquirer reports, and will be joined by Gov. Josh Shapiro, Mayor Ed Kenney, and other local officials during the visit.

Biden is also scheduled to participate in a campaign reception in Philadelphia, according to the White House.

The president’s visit to Philadelphia on Monday will be his ninth trip to the city of Brotherly Love in 2023. 

During his most recent visit in October, Biden announced his administration’s investment into hydrogen hubs, noting that Pennsylvania is the only state that will have two hydrogen hubs, the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub, or ARCH2, and the Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub, or MACH2.

Pennsylvania is a key state in the battle for the White House in 2024, which appears likely to be a rematch between Biden and former President Donald Trump, who is considered the frontrunner for the GOP nomination.