Obama invites leaders to post-election meeting

President Obama has invited a bipartisan delegation of congressional leaders to the White House on Friday to chart a path forward after Tuesday’s midterm elections.

A White House official said the meeting is scheduled for Friday afternoon and said there will be “more details later this week.”

{mosads}The agenda will undoubtedly change depending on the results of Tuesday’s elections, but the meeting will likely include discussion of legislation to keep the government funded. A measure that now funds the government is set to expire in early December.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday that Obama would also be seeking partners on both sides of the aisle to make “policies that benefit middle-class families.”

“There might be opportunities for Democrats and Republicans to agree on an issue like early childhood education,” Earnest said.

The press secretary also mentioned infrastructure and a jobs program as possible areas for compromise.

“We’ll look for opportunities to work with Democrats or Republicans to advance policies like this through the Congress,” Earnest said.

The meeting will come the day before Obama heads to Asia for a weeklong trip focused on trade and the global economy.

If Republicans seize control of the Senate, Obama is likely to ask for support on a Pacific free trade agreement that Democratic leaders have so far rejected.

Former White House press secretary Jay Carney predicted the president would use the meeting to try to find common ground on issues like infrastructure improvements that could gain bipartisan support.

“No matter what happens, and I think it’s likely that Republicans win the Senate, 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 that in 2010, Obama extended “a lot of olive branches” to Republicans after another set of midterm losses but that 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. “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.”

Ryan, a House Republican from Wisconsin, was the GOP’s vice presidential nominee in 2012.

— This story was updated at 9:16 p.m.