Pelosi Turns Down Invite to Sit with Cantor
The Hill reports:
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) invited Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to sit next to him at the State of the Union address — but the former House Speaker says she's already committed.
"I thank @GOPLeader for his #SOTU offer, but I invited my friend Rep. [Roscoe] Bartlett from MD yesterday & am pleased he accepted," Pelosi tweeted.
The invitation from Cantor was made Monday evening through staffers for the two leaders, spokesman Brad Dayspring said.
The pairing would have been among the more high-profile for an event that has in recent days been compared to a school dance, as lawmakers scurry to find cross-party seatmates for the president’s annual address. Instead of the traditional party-line seating arrangement, dozens of members have planned to sit with lawmakers from the other party as a symbol of renewed civility.
The Cantor-Pelosi duo would likely have been awkward, however. The new GOP majority leader on Monday singled out Pelosi for unprompted criticism while he praised her chief deputy, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). Cantor and Hoyer were scheduled to have lunch Tuesday, and Cantor noted that while he and Hoyer met throughout the last Congress, he and Pelosi did not.
