Readout of the President’s Meeting with Senate Democratic Leader Reid and House Democratic Leader Pelosi

This afternoon, President Obama met with Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi to discuss a range of legislative priorities for the fall.  The President emphasized his support for their calls for bipartisan budget negotiations to reverse the harmful cuts known as sequestration, and ensure that our economic and national security priorities are adequately funded -- as they did in 2013.  They agreed that in the interest of avoiding a government shutdown, they would support a clean, short-term continuing resolution to provide more time to negotiate an agreement that invests in middle-class economic priorities and helps our entire economy grow.  They also spoke about the importance of securing passage of a long-term transportation bill that creates jobs and addresses our nation’s critical infrastructure challenges, and renewing the Ex-Im Bank charter that Republicans have allowed to lapse, costing hundreds of jobs.  The President reiterated that threats by some Republicans to shut down the government and eliminate access to healthcare for men, women and families across the country is a game of chicken with our economy that we cannot accept.  The President looks forward to staying in touch with Leader Reid and Leader Pelosi in the coming days to advance their shared priorities.