For the first time since December 2012, President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner will meet one-on-one in the Oval Office.
The agenda will be broad, and no immediate decisions or agreements are expected.
But that the capital's most powerful legislator is talking privately to the president signals a shift in the political tone.
Boehner in recent months has been relying on Democrats to pass a host of major legislation--a two year budget plan, an agriculture policy bill and a suspension of the debt limit.
Long regarded as willing to negotiate, Boehner took a harder line in previous years. Tea party conservatives were instrumental in helping Republicans win a House majority in 2010, and make Boehner speaker.
He and Obama tried in 2011 to craft a "grand bargain" to reduce spending and deficits but could not agree.