President Barack Obama is disappointed with Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) for opting to send only a small group of House Republicans to a Thursday meeting after all of them were invited, the White House said.
“President Obama is disappointed that Speaker Boehner is preventing his members from coming to the White House,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.
“The President thought it was important to talk directly with the members who forced this economic crisis on the country about how the shutdown and a failure to pay the country’s bills could devastate the economy,” he said. “The President will talk to anyone anytime and looks forward to their visit to the White House, but will not pay the Republicans ransom for doing their job. If the Republicans want to have a real discussion they should open the government and take the threat of default off the table.”
The invitation comes on the ninth day of the government shutdown and during an ongoing impasse over the debt ceiling, which is set to be breached on Oct. 17.
