Obama woos GOP senators with dinner meeting, Capitol visit

Washington, DC, United States (4E) – President Barack Obama has scheduled a dinner meeting with GOP senators at Washington’s Jefferson Hotel on Wednesday in an attempt to break the partisan impasse on the fiscal crisis. He is also set to visit Capitol next week for a lunch meeting with House Republicans on the issue.

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) announced the dinner meeting with Obama in a press statement and said he and his Republican conference welcomes the president’s gesture.

Obama invited Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Bob Corker (Tenn.), Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), John McCain (Ariz.), Dan Coats (Ind.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), Richard Burr (N.C.), Mike Johanns (Neb.), Pat Toomey (Pa.), Ron Johnson (Wis.) and John Hoeven (N.D.) to the three-hour dinner in the downtown Washington hotel that hosted his fundraising events last year.

Mike Sommers, chief of staff to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), also confirmed the meeting with Obama to discuss policy matters in a notice to the conference on Wednesday. The time and date is still being ironed out by the Office of the Speaker and White House.

Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.), the vice chairwoman of the House Republican conference, welcomed the meeting.

The dinner with Republican senators marks the first time since May 2010 that the president will meet with GOPs in the Senate. In the previous meeting, they discussed the BP oil spill and border security.

The planned visit to Capitol Hill next week will also be the first for Obama in three years.

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