Second Date: Another Dinner for President Obama and Senate Republicans
Look who's coming for dinner again: Senate Republicans!
On Wednesday, April 10 , President Obama will dine with a new group of 12 Republican senators.
Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., was tasked with organizing the second guest list for dinner, which is still being assembled, Republican aides on Capitol Hill confirm. The location of the dinner is still to be announced.
This second dinner party follows one earlier this month, on March 6, in which President Obama hosted 12 Republican senators at the Jefferson Hotel to break bread.
That first dinner also came among separate meetings on Capitol Hill by President Obama with Senate Republicans and House Republicans, widely seen as a presidential "charm offensive" by engaging Republicans after the brutal, partisan battles from the months before.
Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., did not attend the first dinner but said he's glad President Obama has been engaging his members more.
"I expect the president to talk to various members," McConnell said after the first dinner. "Frankly, I wish he'd done more of that over the years. We've had, all of us, very limited interaction with the president. And he certainly doesn't have to go through me to call on my members. And I'm sure he will, and I encourage him to do so."