President Obama will have lunch today with Rep. Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the budget committee, the White House said this morning.
Obama had dinner with a group of GOP senators last night, where they had what Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Penn., described as a “substantive” conversation about deficit reduction.
“There was substantive discussion about actual fiscal policy, priorities and alternatives and ideas,” Toomey said. “So the idea wasn’t that we were going to negotiate a deal last night. That was never part of the plan. That isn’t going to happen over one dinner, but I think it was a constructive exchange.”
The president is also slated to have lunch with Senate Republicans next week, a meeting the White House initiated.
The flurry of meetings comes after Obama has taken criticism for not reaching out to Congressional Republicans to talk about budget issues, especially during fiscal cliff and sequester negotiations.
