House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday formally invited President Barack Obama to deliver his first State of the Union address to Congress next week.

“We would like to invite you to deliver a State of the Union address to a Joint Session of the Congress on Wednesday, January 27 to share your vision for addressing the many critical challenges our country faces at home and internationally,— the Democratic leaders wrote to Obama.

The speech will occur at 9 p.m.

Pelosi and Reid’s invitation is a formality: Congress must ask the president to speak before a joint session.

Obama’s State of the Union will come just days after his one-year anniversary as president. He will deliver the speech as his popularity dips and Democrats grapple to pass his signature health care reform bill.