Daley: Obama must meet GOP leaders often

President Obama should meet with congressional leaders every week in a bid to reset relations with the now-Republican-led House and Senate, his former chief of staff said Tuesday.

Bill Daley said Obama had taken an “obviously good step” in inviting the bipartisan leadership from the House and Senate to the White House on Friday.

“I would continue that,” he told CBS News. “Obviously, he goes away for a week on an international trip, but I think there are a lot of things he can do, like reinstate the weekly leadership meeting with the leaders of both parties.”

{mosads}Daley conceded that the idea “may sound simple to some people,” but he said getting the four leaders with the president and vice president in the same room could be effective.

“They’re the leaders,” Daley said. “Listen to [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell [R-Ky.] tonight. He wants to work with the president in a different way, obviously, if he’s majority leader. And I think this is a great opportunity.”

The White House on Tuesday would only confirm the Friday meeting was occurring, with an aide promising “more details later this week.”

Former White House press secretary Jay Carney, appearing on CNN, predicted the president would use the encounter to try to find common ground on issues that could gain bipartisan support, such as infrastructure improvements.

“The White House was planning to, and will try to, engage with the new leaders of the Senate and the Congress, and make an effort to demonstrate a willingness to cooperate in a bipartisan fashion,” Carney said.

He asserted that in 2010 Obama extended “a lot of olive branches” to Republicans after another set of midterm losses, but they were ultimately rejected.

“The real test will be, do Republicans pass the Paul Ryan budget again and pass it through both houses, and will that become the governing document they want to put forward?” Carney said, referring to the House Budget Committee chief. “Because the Paul Ryan budget is not a workable budget for the American people — it’s just not popular … and it’s a losing proposition.”