- WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama has invited Republican and Democratic leaders of Congress to the White House to chart an agenda for the United States after elections tilted power from the Democrats to the Republican Party.
Speaking to reporters after a Cabinet meeting, Obama said has invited the incoming House speaker, John Boehner, and top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell to meet with him on Nov. 18. The meeting is also to include current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
The president said he wants the bipartisan meeting to be a substantive discussion on the economy, tax cuts and unemployment insurance. He also wants the Senate to pass a new nuclear-arms treaty with Russia during an upcoming session of the pre-election Congress.
Obama said the START treaty, which would cut US and Russian nuclear arsenals by one-fourth, is something that is essential to US security and should have bipartisan support.