Obama ‘looking forward’ to working with Republican leaders

President Obama on Tuesday congratulated Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) after they were officially elected to their leadership posts.

{mosads}”I’m very much looking forward to working with them,” Obama told reporters ahead of a meeting with state governors, adding that he wished the GOP leaders “well.”

Boehner’s election came despite more than two dozen conservative House Republicans casting votes for other candidates in a signal of frustration with the Speaker for not driving a harder conservative line. The number of Republican defectors was more than twice those who voted against Boehner two years ago.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest sidestepped a question about what the defections meant for Boehner, saying simply that the reelection was a “substantial achievement.” He also noted that there were “strong differences of opinion” between Obama and Boehner on a number of issues.

“What the president is determined to do, however, is to move past those disagreements and try to find some areas of common ground and we’re hopeful that Speaker Boehner will be willing to do the same,” Earnest said.

Obama and the new Republican leadership will have the opportunity to hash those out next week. The White House has invited the top four Republicans and Democrats from both chambers to meet with Obama on Jan. 13 for a discussion of the upcoming legislative agenda. He’ll also update the lawmakers on ongoing foreign policy issues.

“The president does recognize that there’s an opportunity for Democrats and Republicans to work together, and the key to doing that is not the frequency of conversations but more the willingness from people on both sides to try to find common ground and not allow disagreements over one issue become an obstacle to making any sort of agreement on any issue,” Earnest said.