{mosads}He said there “may well” be bipartisan seating for the president’s speech to a joint session of Congress on Sept. 8.
Republicans and Democrats sat together, rather than on opposite sides of the aisle, for Obama’s State of the Union address earlier this year. The seating arrangement was meant to be a sign of bipartisan camaraderie following the assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).
Recent polls reflect registered voters’ disgust with the partisan bickering in Washington., which reached new heights during the summer debt-ceiling negotiations. Members of Congress may once again be looking for ways to show they can rise above the fray.
Van Hollen and other members of the supercommittee have indicated they are well aware that bipartisanship will be necessary to reach a deficit-reduction deal.
“I know there’ve been a number of conversations” between both Republican and Democrat members already, Van Hollen said. He noted that members of the committee have been “scattered” across the country during the August recess and that most conversations have taken place by phone.
Van Hollen said that members of the supercommittee are setting an agenda and getting various organizational “pieces in place” prior to the group’s first in-person meeting. He expects that the group will be ready to meet before Sept. 16.
The 12-member, bicameral committee appointed by Republican and Democrat leadership last month is tasked with finding at least $1.2 trillion in spending cuts as part of a deficit-reduction package to be presented to Congress by Nov. 23.
The co-chairmen of the committee have indicated they are already working on rules to govern the committee’s work; they appointed a staff director for the committee earlier this week.