http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/228614-obama-invites-leaders-of-congress-to-white-houseJanuary 06, 2015, 01:34 pm
Obama invites party leaders to WH
By Justin Sink
President Obama has invited top congressional leaders to the White House next Tuesday for a meeting on the legislative agenda for the year.
The invited lawmakers — including the top four Democrats and Republicans from both chambers — will also receive an update from the White House on a number of foreign policy situations, press secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday.
Obama will use the meeting to discuss some of the legislative priorities and executive actions he plans to unveil during a three-state campaign-style tour later this week, including efforts on college and mortgage accessibility.
But Earnest said that while the president planned to be in "regular touch with members of Congress," the White House didn't anticipate a "structural" change, like weekly meetings or phone calls with the Republican leadership. He also specified that the meeting next week wasn't part of a charm offensive like the one attempted by the White House after the president's reelection in 2012, when he invited senators to a series of dinners.
"What you should see this as is a clear piece of evidence from this president that he wants to find common ground with Republicans to make progress on behalf of the American people," Earnest said.
At a press conference following Democrats’ across-the-board midterm defeats, the president pledged he would do what was necessary to reach across the aisle to Republican leaders in hopes of striking compromise agreements on trade and tax deals.
“If the ways that we’re approaching the Republicans in Congress isn’t working, I’m going to try different things — whether it’s having a drink with Mitch McConnell or letting John Boehner beat me again at golf,” Obama said.
On Sunday, McConnell told CNN that the highly anticipated “bourbon summit” would occur.
“Well, I think it will happen. The people in the industry in our state are sure hoping it's going to happen,” he said.
The Kentucky lawmaker said they would need “to have some kind of draw it out of a hat selection for the bourbon” because choosing a brand would be like selecting a favorite child.
The early-week meeting suggests Obama may not appear at the annual Republican retreat, which House and Senate lawmakers are holding next Thursday and Friday in Hershey, Pa.
Earnest said Monday he did not know whether the president had been invited or would attend. Democrats will hold their own annual retreat at the end of the month.
