After meeting with President Barack Obama on Tuesday, Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri said he believes Republicans can find common ground with the administration on trade, cybersecurity and the authorization of military force against Islamic State radicals in the Middle East.
“I hope President Obama will work with us,” Blunt said in a statement.
But the Republican lawmaker stressed that the president’s veto threats “are not helpful.”
Blunt serves as vice chair of the GOP conference in the Senate. He was among a group of congressional leaders who met Tuesday with Obama in the Cabinet room of the White House, including House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Ca.
In brief remarks to reporters after the meeting, Obama called for keeping progress going on the economy.
He acknowledged “disagreements” around the room, but cited cybersecuirty, trade, taxes, and “streamlining government” as possible areas of bipartisan cooperation.
“The key now is for us to work as a team to build on this progress,” the president said.
Those who attended the meeting Tuesday include Vice President Joe Biden,
One area in which Blunt and Obama are unlikely to find agreement any time soon is immigration. Blunt is leading Republicans’ efforts in the Senate to block funding for Obama’s recent executive actions to protect 4 million illegal immigrants from deportation by granting them temporary legal status.
Blunt has called the executive actions an “lawless immigration power grab.” He co-sponsors a bill that would block funding for the Department of Homeland Security to implement the new policy and bar illegal immigrants who qualify for the program from working.