President Obama is stepping up his outreach to Republican lawmakers as they work to find common ground on the federal budget sequester.
Today, the president invited former Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Paul Ryan to the White House after dining with GOP senators last night.
"I don't think there's any expectation that something over the next month or six weeks is going to occur, but I think it helped lay a foundation for constructive talks," says Sen. Corker of Tennessee.
The $85-billion in cuts started taking effect last Friday, but the impact for agencies -- from the national level down -- are still largely unknown.
So far, the president hasn't invited GOP leadership, like House Speaker John Boehner, to these discussions.
"After being in office for four years, he's actually going to sit down and talk to members. I think it's a sign, a hopeful sign, and I'm hopeful that something will come out of it," says Boehner.
The White House says reaching across the aisle has always been important to the president -- and he's hoping to also find common ground on other issues like immigration reform and gun control.
