President Obama will meet with House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday, according to the White House.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest confirmed the meeting during a White House press briefing. He says the meeting would be about the president’s “legislative priorities” in Obama’s last year in office and “opportunities to work together.”
“Building on the bi-partisan agreement that the president signed into law last year, we certainly believe that there are areas of cooperation for the year ahead,” he said.
When asked why the meeting had taken so long to take place, Earnest blamed preparation for the State of the Union, Congress being out of session, and recent snow days for the delay
“The president is looking forward to the conversation,” Earnest said. Today is Paul Ryan’s 46th birthday.
Ryan spokesperson Doug Andres responded to the news in a statement to Breitbart News.
“While the House is focused on a bold agenda for 2017, the Speaker appreciates the opportunity to see if we can find any areas of common ground in the year ahead,” he said, referring to the meeting.