President Barack Obama Tuesday hosted a meeting with the House and Senate leaders from both parties to map a more bipartisan course for the future.
Obama said he called the meeting in an attempt to address the frustration of the American people at Congress' seeming inability to work together on key issues.
"Although the parties are not going to agree on every single item, there should be some areas where we can agree and we can get some things done even as we have vigorous debates on some of those issues that we don't agree on," Obama said.
He added, "A good place to start … is how we can move forward on a jobs package that encourages small business to hire, that is helping to create the kind of environment where now that we have economic growth people actually are starting to add to their payroll."
Obama said that both parties shared the opinion that lower taxes for small businesses to promote hiring could boost the struggling economic recovery.
"My hope is that both in the House and the Senate we'll see some packages moving over the next several weeks that can provide a jumpstart to hiring and start lowering the unemployment rate," he said.
Obama also noted that there is hope for bipartisan work to reduce the federal budget deficit and seek to get the ballooning national debt under control.
"I think both parties recognize that it's going to take a lot of work," he said. "I have put forward the idea of a fiscal commission and I'm going to be discussing both with my Democratic and Republican colleagues how we can get that moving as quickly as possible."
He added, "I think the American people want to see that concrete action."
On less far reaching topics, Obama said he would also address the question of presidential nominations, many of which have stalled in the Senate, but he also said he planned to spend some time listening to the priorities of the Congressional leaders.
"My hope is this is not going to be a rare situation," he said. "We're going to be doing these on a regular basis."
He added, "I'm confident that if we move forward in a spirit of keeping in mind what's best for the American people that we should be able to accomplish a lot."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., released a statement after the meeting, saying, "Today's meeting with the President was productive. I applaud his continued efforts to work on a bipartisan basis to strengthen our economy."
"Senate Democrats remain hopeful that our Republican colleagues will work with us this week to take swift action and pass legislation to help businesses thrive and create jobs," he added.
Additionally, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., spoke to reporters after the meeting, saying, " We had a good meeting with the President, and, what I'd like to emphasize is there are some areas of potential agreement."
McConnell specifically pointed to Obama's support for nuclear power, offshore drilling, clean coal technology and trade agreements.
"Obviously, there will be areas of disagreement," he said. "But, emphasizing the things that we might be able to work on together, I would mention those four areas, all of which I think would be job generators."
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.