President Barack Obama has invited House Democrats to the White House for a meeting to discuss the government shutdown and the debt limit today at 4:30 p.m., and he will invite other caucuses in the coming days, according to a White House official.

The meetings come as the president has refused to negotiate concessions with the GOP as long as the government is shut down and with the threat of default looming. The president has come under criticism for not talking more to members of Congress in recent days, however, even as he canceled his trip to Asia to deal with the crisis, and that appears to be starting to change.