President Joe Biden will announce his re-election bid after he gives his State of the Union address in February, according to new reports Thursday, as his advisers dismiss the classified documents scandal as ‘DC elite’ making ‘DC noise.’

Biden will give the speech on February 7th in the House of Representatives, where he’ll expected to use the prime time television event to emphasize his administration’s accomplishments, stress the importance of bipartisanship and governing, and tout the country’s strengthening economy.

‘We want him to be a president at State of the Union, not a candidate,’ a person close to Biden told NBC News. 

Meanwhile, his close inner circle of longtime aides have been on lockdown as they prepare for Biden’s 2024 re-election bid, trying to hold off any leaks about their plans and avoid triggering any legal issues with the Federal Election Commission.

But plans are moving full steam ahead and are unaffected by the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the classified material Biden had at his D.C. think tank and Wilmington, Delaware, home – an issue that has engulfed the White House in the past week.

Several of Biden advisers told CNN that it’s simply the ‘DC elite’ making ‘DC noise,’ referring to it merely as the latest passing obsession. 

They also argue the questions from reporters and lawmakers on Capitol Hill are from those who won’t accept that Biden is ‘honoring his promise to a T by upholding the rule of law and respecting DOJ’s process.’ 

But, despite the argument from Biden’s team, the revelation the president had classified material in his personal possessions has affected Biden’s standing with the public.

Biden’s approval rating is getting back toward the lowest numbers of his presidency – despite coming off a strong performance by Democrats in the midterm election and the growing economy. 

A Reuters-Ipsos poll – conducted amid the fallout of the documents scandal – found only 40 percent of Americans approved of Biden’s performance as president. 

Biden advisers have argued the documents won’t be a political issue by the time the November 2024 contest rolls around but Republicans will be intent on keeping the administration’s crisis front and center.

Donald Trump, who is running for again in 2024, has been hammering Biden on the issue. The former president, who is being investigated by a special counsel for his own classified document scandal, is portraying himself as a victim of a double standard.  

Meanwhile, House Republicans, in addition to holding hearings on the classified documents, plan to investigate Hunter Biden’s business dealings, the ‘weaponization’ of the federal government and the crisis at the Southern border – all areas they see as Biden weak spots. 

The White House plan has always been to continue with the business of governing and to show Biden being presidential. 

Additionally, since the New Year began Biden’s schedule has been filled with events that can easily transform into a campaign message – including a trip to the Southern border.  

Biden’s age – he is 80 – and his health remain a factor. He is the oldest president in American history.

A health issue for him or his family is one of the few things that could derail any plans for a second term. 

First lady Jill Biden recently underwent a cancer scare – she was pronounced cancer free by White House Dr. Kevin O’Connor on Wednesday – and President Biden has faced questions about his advancing age. If he wins a second term he will be 86 when he leaves the White House.

Officials have said he will have his annual physical soon and, if he has it before he announces a second bid, it could take some of the pressure off the age question. Additionally, if it reveals a health issue, it could also allow the Biden family to reassess their 2024 plans. 

Some Democrats have argued it’s time for a new generation of leadership in the party. Nancy Pelosi recently stepped down as the Democratic leader in Congress – although she remains a member of the House of Representatives – but odds of Biden facing a primary challenger are slim.

It’s highly unusual to challenge a sitting president who is running for a second term. And the fact Democrats held off a predicted Republican wave in the midterm election has strengthened Biden’s credentials as the leader of his party.

Powerful Democratic powerbroker Rep. Jim Clyburn – a longtime Biden ally – said he is all in for a second Biden term.

‘I’m all-in for President Biden,’ he told CBS’ Robert Costa. ‘I think he’s demonstrated, in these two years … that he is deserving of re-election. And I do believe he will be re-elected irrespective of who the Republicans, they put up.’

Ron DeSantis has penned a new book chronicling his life in public service, as his popularity soars and speculation grows he will run for president in 2024.

The Republican Florida Governor, who this month won re-election by a landslide, will publish his new book in February. It is being seen by some political analysts as a manifesto, and another step towards his potential White House bid.

The autobiography, called ‘The Courage to Be Free: Florida‘s Blueprint for America’s Revival’, is expected to cover key moments in DeSantis’s life.

The book will tell his story ‘growing up in a working-class family, playing in the Little League World Series, working his way through Yale University and Harvard Law School, volunteering for the Navy after 9/11 and serving in Iraq,’ Fox News said.

It will also shed new light on his marriage to former news and TV host Casey DeSantis, her battle with breast cancer, and the three children they share together.

DeSantis’ popularity has soared in the last two years. In a midterm election that saw results go worse than expected for Republicans, he was a stand-out winner.

He won re-election for a second term as Florida governor with a landslide, beating Democrat Charlie Crist with almost 60 percent of the vote – in further sign of Florida’s Republican wave.

Meanwhile, a poll earlier this month weighing up potential 2024 candidates found DeSantis is now seven points ahead of former president Donald Trump.

The YouGov poll was the first survey looking at the 2024 election cycle – as well as being the first since February 2016 to suggest that Trump’s dominance over the GOP is weakening. It found 42 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents now prefer DeSantis over Trump to be the party’s 2024 standard-bearer.

DeSantis’s surge has been put down to his assault on what he calls ‘woke’ values. In his victory speech at his campaign’s headquarters, he declared: ‘Florida is where woke goes to die,’ saying Florida voters had ‘rewritten the political map’.

He has also supported Florida’s so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay‘ law and Stop W.O.K.E. Act – both of which have proved controversial and have faced lawsuits, but have proved popular among Republicans, particularly those in Trump’s MAGA camp.

DeSantis’s autobiography will be his second book, and will be published on February 28 by Broadside, the conservative arm of HarperCollins Publishing – which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

In a statement shared via Fox News (which, like HarperCollins, falls under Rupert Murdoch’s media empire – albeit under different umbrella companies) – Broadside said the book will ‘enter on critical issues that brought [DeSantis] to the center of the debate over the future of our country. 

‘He shares his thinking from when he was fighting back against COVID mandates and restrictions, critical race theory, woke corporations’ and what Broadside describes as ‘the partisan legacy media.’ The statement added that the book will detail DeSantis’s ‘bold, substantial policy achievements.’

In a statement to Fox News, DeSantis said Florida has established ‘a blueprint for governance that has produced tangible results while serving as a rebuke to the entrenched elites who have driven our nation into the ground.’  

DeSantis is yet to make any formal announcement about a potential White House bid. He has previously discounted talk of a 2024 presidential run, instead focusing on his gubernatorial re-election, which will see him remain as Florida’s governor until 2026 – unless he chooses to step down.

Regardless, he has become a major face of the Republican party, and the possibility of him running has appeared to rattle Trump – who announced his own 2024 bid earlier this month. ‘He could hurt himself badly,’ Trump told reporters when asked about the possibility of going up against DeSantis for the Republican candidacy.

Many in the Republican party fear that should the pair go head-to-head in the 2024 presidential primaries, the party could tear itself apart.