WASHINGTON, DC — President Donald Trump met Wednesday with Republican leadership to begin work on moving forward the agenda set forth in his Tuesday evening address to a joint session of Congress.
The midday leadership lunch with House and Senate Republican leadership was held in the White House Roosevelt Room.
Press Secretary Sean Spicer informed members of the press that the attendees were to include Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senator John Cornyn, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Congressman Steve Scalise, Senator Cory Gardner, and Senator David Perdue.
White House Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus were seen in the room at the lunch as well, along with other attendees.
Trump opened the meeting saying, “Thank you very much, we are here to start the process. It begins as of now and we’ll have tremendous success. Thank you very much.”
When asked during a press gaggle if the President has plans to meet with Democratic leaders as well, Spicer responded, “I’m sure he will. And you’ve seen he’s met with a bipartisan group of Senate leaders last week. He met with a bipartisan group of attorney generals yesterday. He met with bipartisan governors.” Spicer continued, “At some point, the people who set the agenda and the timetable to enact his agenda are Republican.”
He made a distinction between meeting with both sides of the aisle and “charting out the agenda and the timeline,” stating that President Trump has shown a “desire to reach across the aisle.”
Spicer recalled the President’s agenda as stated in his Tuesday speech, in which he called on Congress to repeal Obamacare and replace it with “a patient-focused system that expands options, lowers costs, and improves healthcare outcomes for all Americans.” He went on to speak of “restarting the engine of the American economy” through tax reform that brings down rates for middle class Americans, robust infrastructure plans, and “a budget that puts the interest of Americans first.” Spicer advised that those involved in the leadership lunch would be working on charting “a path forward for those issues and more.”
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