WASHINGTON - Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will instruct the Republican address to the nation in response to President Joe Biden's State of the Union speech next week as the GOP seeks to show it's creating a new generation of leaders.

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.

Sanders, the first woman elected governor of Arkansas, said she relished the opportunity to disagreement the GOP's vision for the future against that of Biden and his fellow Democrats.

"We are ready to open a new chapter in the story of America — to be written by a new generation of leaders," she said.

Before becoming governor, Sanders served as White House press secretary for President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019.

Biden, 80, will deliver the address on Tuesday Feb. 7.