Democratic House Majority Leader and soon-to-be Whip Steny Hoyer expressed his dismay with Republicans for postponing a meeting with President Obama in the White House, suggesting the move was an early sign that the relationship between Obama and the new class of Republicans could be getting off to a rocky start.
“I can never remember an instance when President Bush asked me or the Democratic leadership to come down and meet with him that we did not accommodate our schedule to that request,” Hoyer told reporters Thursday, adding that he was “disappointed” in Republicans for not finding a way to make it.
Obama declared two days after the midterm elections that he would host a summit meeting and a dinner with Republican and Democratic leaders on Nov. 18, but Republicans declined the date, and accused the White House of announcing the meeting without consulting them first. Democratic leaders met with Obama in the White House Thursday morning, without the Republicans.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (or someone on his staff) took to Twitter Wednesday to blast Republican leaders for not making time in their schedule for the president. “With millions of ppl looking 4 work, there’s no time 2 waste,” the top Senate Democrat’s Twitter account read. “My GOP colleagues should have accepted the President’s offer 2 meet this week.”
The meeting, which White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has said is the “first test of being able to work together,” will focus on discussing a possible deal to extend the Bush-era tax cuts and points of agreement between Obama and the new majority leadership, according to Speaker-elect John Boehner.
During press briefing this week, Gibbs played down the significance of the scheduling conflict.
“The test of this is not when the meting is held,” he said. “The test will ultimately be whether you have two sides capable of working together to make progress.”
The new date for the summit has been set for Nov. 30th.