Obama Plans Reception for Freshman Reps
Politico reports:
President Barack Obama will host a White House reception for newly elected members of Congress the night before he heads to Capitol Hill to give his State of the Union address.
The proximity of the reception to the president’s speech was merely a scheduling convenience, a White House aide said — but the timing couldn’t be better for the president. Eighty-seven of the 96 new House members are Republicans, as are 12 of the 16 new senators, many of whom won after contentious campaigns in which they railed against the president. The Arizona shooting has voices from both parties calling for more comity, with some members planning to scramble the traditional party seating patterns in a display of bipartisanship. The freshman-only reception offers Obama the chance to set the tone for what could be a less-heated atmosphere than the chamber has displayed in his former appearances before Congress.”
The annual address will be Jan. 25. ...
