WASHINGTON (AP) — A restaurant near the White House will be the scene of tonight's dinner get-together involving President Barack Obama and a dozen Republican senators.
The dinner will be followed up next week by a rare trip by Obama to Capitol Hill -- where he'll meet with Senate Republicans next Thursday. He's also planning a separate meeting with House Republicans.
The outreach effort follows Washington's failure to avert the $85 billion in automatic budget cuts that started going into effect Friday.
A White House official says Obama first raised the idea of a dinner during a phone conversation earlier this week with one of the Republican senators, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. He asked Graham to put together the guest list.
Members of the GOP leadership are being left out of the dinner. They also weren't among the Republican lawmakers Obama started calling over the weekend.
Aides say the president's calls have been focused partly on jump-starting the budget talks -- but also on Obama's proposals to overhaul immigration laws and enact tougher gun control measures.
%@AP Links
247-v-35-(Mark Smith, AP White House correspondent)--President Obama is reaching out to GOP lawmakers as he looks for a way to break the budget impasse. AP White House Correspondent Mark Smith reports. ((subs for cut 211, updating the number of senators)) (6 Mar 2013)
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248-c-20-(Mark Smith, AP White House correspondent)-"solve hard problems"-AP White House Correspondent Mark Smith reports the president's going to dinner tonight with GOP lawmakers at a hotel near the White House. (6 Mar 2013)
<<CUT *248 (03/06/13)>> 00:20 "solve hard problems"
APPHOTO WX302: FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2013 file photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, talks with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. on Capitol Hill in Washington. Enveloped by political gridlock, President Barack Obama is reaching out to rank-and-file Republicans, hosting GOP senators for dinner at the White House Wednesday night and then visiting Capitol Hill next week for separate meetings with Senate and House Republicans. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) (14 Feb 2013)
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APPHOTO WX301: FILE - In this March 4, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Enveloped by political gridlock, President Barack Obama is reaching out to rank-and-file Republicans, hosting GOP senators for dinner at the White House Wednesday night and then visiting Capitol Hill next week for separate meetings with Senate and House Republicans. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) (4 Mar 2013)
<<APPHOTO WX301 (03/04/13)>>
