http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=4B3F256C-6BA3-476F-A17C-C1AFDD726B38 President Obama to invite Congress to White House
By: Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan
October 9, 2013 07:38 AM EDT
President Barack Obama is expected to invite all of Congress to meet with him at the White House this week, nine days into a government shutdown, and eight days before the debt ceiling is reached.
House Democrats will head there Wednesday at 4:35 p.m. for an hour-long session. The White House sent an emailed invitation early Wednesday morning. Senate Democrats have also been invited. Sources say that House and Senate Republicans will also get invited to the other side of Pennsylvania Avenue.
The meeting comes in the midst of the biggest budget standoff of Obama’s presidency and Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) control of the House. There’s no movement toward an agreement to end the government shutdown and lift the debt ceiling.
Senate Democrats will attempt this week to pass a so-called clean debt ceiling increase — one that lifts the nation’s borrowing limit through the 2014 elections without any extraneous policy add-ons. House Republicans have absolutely no plan to lift the debt ceiling at this point. On Tuesday, they passed legislation to create a commission — likened by many members to the failed supercommittee — that would study debt and deficit issues, and issue recommendations. Obama said he would veto that bill.
On Wednesday, the House will continue to try to pass bills to fund parts of government — bills that have largely been rejected by the White House and Senate Democrats. Republicans will have legislation on the floor to pay benefits to the families of fallen soldiers, and another to fund the Federal Aviation Administration.
There’s still much stagecraft going on in Washington. Senate Democratic leaders will gather on the Capitol steps at 11:30 a.m. to urge Republicans to open government. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray will hold a news conference to discuss the impact the shutdown is having on Washington’s budget.
