[h=3]By PETER NICHOLAS And JANET HOOK[/h]WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama, unable to reach a deal on fiscal issues with Republican leaders, has begun courting more junior GOP lawmakers in hopes of creating a coalition to push through a budget deal that includes tax revenue increases.
Since Saturday, Mr. Obama has placed calls to several lawmakers, among them Republican Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Bob Corker of Tennessee. The calls came after Mr. Obama and congressional leaders failed to reach a deal to avert or replace across-the-board spending cuts, known as sequestration, that began Friday.
Last week, Mr. Obama met with Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona at the White House to discuss immigration and budget legislation.
There are no signs that Mr. Obama will have any more success negotiating on tax and spending matters with rank-and-file Republicans than he has had with House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Still, the overtures are noteworthy for a president who has drawn criticism from both parties for a lack of outreach to Congress.
"It's a start," said Sen. Roy Blunt (R., Mo.), who said he was called over the weekend by a senior White House official.
Messrs. Portman and Coburn declined to comment on the calls. A spokeswoman for Mr. Corker, Laura Herzog, confirmed that the senator talked to the president over the weekend about fiscal issues.
One Senate Republican aide said Mr. Obama was trying to gauge support for a broad deal encompassing a range of tax and spending issues. "He's probing the level of interest for a grand bargain," the aide said.
The White House would not discuss which lawmakers Mr. Obama has called since the sequester went into effect Friday. Aides said his aim is to identify a bloc of lawmakers who might be willing to buck party leadership and collaborate with the White House on shared goals. Jay Carney, White House press secretary, said Monday the president had spoken with lawmakers about the sequester and how best to reduce the nation's deficit.
It's unclear how much headway Mr. Obama will make. Republicans have remained unified in opposing the president's call to raise new tax revenues as part of a plan to replace the budget cuts that took effect Friday. Some Republicans have said, however, that they are willing to discuss raising certain taxes if the money is devoted to deficit reduction as part of a broad plan.
Some Republicans have been suspicious of outreach from Mr. Obama in the past, saying it has been largely symbolic—an effort to show voters he's acting in bipartisan fashion and trying to ease legislative gridlock.
Mr. McConnell said he did not expect Mr. Obama's phone-calling to budge the party from its core beliefs on taxes.
"The president is free to call whoever he chooses to. He doesn't have to go through the speaker and myself to talk to our members. And I fully expect him to do that," Mr. McConnell said Sunday on CNN. "But, so far, I haven't heard a single Senate Republican say they're willing to raise one dime in taxes in order to avoid a spending-reduction commitment that we made on a bipartisan basis just a year and a half ago."
Mr. Obama's outreach has included members of both parties and began before this weekend. Sen. Tim Kaine, a freshman Democrat from Virginia, said he heard from the president two weeks ago, when it seemed Mr. Obama was making a round of such calls to sound out senators on budget issues.
Nothing concrete came of a meeting last week among Messrs. Obama, Graham and McCain, but the GOP senators said they welcomed the conversation.
"I really appreciate the president reaching out," Mr. Graham said Monday. "We had a great meeting with the president, one of the best I've ever had."
—Siobhan Hughes contributed to this article.Write to Peter Nicholas at [email protected] and Janet Hook at [email protected]
Since Saturday, Mr. Obama has placed calls to several lawmakers, among them Republican Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Bob Corker of Tennessee. The calls came after Mr. Obama and congressional leaders failed to reach a deal to avert or replace across-the-board spending cuts, known as sequestration, that began Friday.
Last week, Mr. Obama met with Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona at the White House to discuss immigration and budget legislation.
There are no signs that Mr. Obama will have any more success negotiating on tax and spending matters with rank-and-file Republicans than he has had with House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Still, the overtures are noteworthy for a president who has drawn criticism from both parties for a lack of outreach to Congress.
"It's a start," said Sen. Roy Blunt (R., Mo.), who said he was called over the weekend by a senior White House official.
Messrs. Portman and Coburn declined to comment on the calls. A spokeswoman for Mr. Corker, Laura Herzog, confirmed that the senator talked to the president over the weekend about fiscal issues.
One Senate Republican aide said Mr. Obama was trying to gauge support for a broad deal encompassing a range of tax and spending issues. "He's probing the level of interest for a grand bargain," the aide said.
The White House would not discuss which lawmakers Mr. Obama has called since the sequester went into effect Friday. Aides said his aim is to identify a bloc of lawmakers who might be willing to buck party leadership and collaborate with the White House on shared goals. Jay Carney, White House press secretary, said Monday the president had spoken with lawmakers about the sequester and how best to reduce the nation's deficit.
It's unclear how much headway Mr. Obama will make. Republicans have remained unified in opposing the president's call to raise new tax revenues as part of a plan to replace the budget cuts that took effect Friday. Some Republicans have said, however, that they are willing to discuss raising certain taxes if the money is devoted to deficit reduction as part of a broad plan.
Some Republicans have been suspicious of outreach from Mr. Obama in the past, saying it has been largely symbolic—an effort to show voters he's acting in bipartisan fashion and trying to ease legislative gridlock.
Mr. McConnell said he did not expect Mr. Obama's phone-calling to budge the party from its core beliefs on taxes.
"The president is free to call whoever he chooses to. He doesn't have to go through the speaker and myself to talk to our members. And I fully expect him to do that," Mr. McConnell said Sunday on CNN. "But, so far, I haven't heard a single Senate Republican say they're willing to raise one dime in taxes in order to avoid a spending-reduction commitment that we made on a bipartisan basis just a year and a half ago."
Mr. Obama's outreach has included members of both parties and began before this weekend. Sen. Tim Kaine, a freshman Democrat from Virginia, said he heard from the president two weeks ago, when it seemed Mr. Obama was making a round of such calls to sound out senators on budget issues.
Nothing concrete came of a meeting last week among Messrs. Obama, Graham and McCain, but the GOP senators said they welcomed the conversation.
"I really appreciate the president reaching out," Mr. Graham said Monday. "We had a great meeting with the president, one of the best I've ever had."
—Siobhan Hughes contributed to this article.Write to Peter Nicholas at [email protected] and Janet Hook at [email protected]