White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel won’t be alone today when he huddles with senators about health care, as Brian noted earlier.
The White House says he’s part of a 5-person team leading the charge for meetings expected to last from 2:30 to 4:15 p.m. The focus is merging the bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee yesterday with the one passed earlier in the year by the Senate Health Education and Labor Committee.
A White House official told TPMDC Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called for the meeting.
“As we’ve said throughout this process, the White House stands ready to assist Leader Reid and Chairmen Baucus and Dodd in moving the reform effort forward. White House and HHS staff have regularly been present for legislative action so far, and they’ll continue to play a similar advisory role,” the official said.
The group of visitors after the jump.
Rahm Emanuel, White House Chief of Staff
Nancy-Ann DeParle, Director of the White House Office for Health Reform
Peter Orszag, Director of the Office of Management and Budget
Phil Schiliro, Director of Legislative Affairs
Shawn Maher, White House Senate Liaison
Emanuel is a bit of a tough guy when it comes to his former colleagues on the Hill and his interactions with Reid haven’t always been pleasant. But Orszag and Schiliro have a lot of fans among the Democratic senate staffers, and the White House wanted the whole team on hand so both political and policy questions can be addressed at once.
