House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell announced the role for Sanders, 40, the nation’s youngest governor, on Thursday.
“While President Biden keeps repeating old mistakes and failing Americans, a rising generation of Republican Governors are fighting for families, advancing new solutions, and winning,” McConnell said in a statement.
“We are ready to begin a new chapter in the story of America — to be written by a new generation of leaders,” she said.
Biden, 80, will deliver the address on Tuesday Feb. 7.