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Democrats Not Too Busy to Visit Obama Thursday

President Barack Obama’s Thursday meeting with Congressional leaders is still on, even if Republicans won’t be there.

Obama will sit down with House and Senate Democratic leaders at 10:45 a.m. in the Oval Office to map out the agenda for the lame-duck session that began Monday. Vice President Joseph Biden will also attend.

Democrats have been grumbling since the White House announced Tuesday that it was postponing Thursday’s bipartisan, bicameral meeting until Nov. 30 at the request of House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who cited scheduling conflicts.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) posted a message on Twitter scolding GOP leaders for turning down the president’s invitation, and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said their move was an affront to Obama’s overtures toward bipartisanship.

“When the president calls and asks a member of Congress to meet at the White House, you go,” Cummings said in a statement. “You put down everything else, you cancel all your other appointments, and you go. This is the leader of the free world and the Commander in Chief of our nation. You do not say, ‘let’s reschedule.’”

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