Aug 31, 2011 5:09pm
House Speaker John Boehner wrote a letter to President Obama this afternoon, rejecting the president’s request for a joint session of Congress next Wednesday, Sept. 7, and instead proposed that the president address lawmakers next Thursday, Sept. 8 “at a time that works best for your schedule.”
Obama’s request for the joint session on Wednesday would have conflicted with a planned debate of Republican presidential candidates in California. Boehner’s request for the joint session on Thursday conflicts with the opening game of the NFL season.
The spat over timing for the speech, which is intended to lay out a long-awaited jobs plan from the White House, underscored the partisan bickering that has beset Washington.
With the House of Representatives not set to return to session from a month-long recess until hours before the president’s proposed time for a joint session, Boehner pointed to concerns about “the significant amount of time – typically more than three hours – that is required to allow for a security sweep of the House Chamber before receiving a President.”
“As your spokesperson today said, there are considerations about the Congressional calendar that must be made prior to scheduling such an extraordinary event. As you know, the House of Representatives and Senate are each required to adopt a Concurrent Resolution to allow for a Joint Session of Congress to receive the President. And as the Majority Leader announced more than a month ago, the House will not be in session until Wednesday, September 7, with votes at 6:30 that evening,” Boehner wrote in a letter to Obama Wednesday afternoon. “It is my recommendation that your address be held on the following evening [Thursday], when we can ensure there will be no parliamentary or logistical impediments that might detract from your remarks.”
Boehner wrote that he agrees with the president that “creating a better environment for job creation must be our most urgent priority” and said that the House has worked to implement “an agenda designed to reduce economic uncertainty, remove unnecessary government barriers to private-sector job creation, and help small businesses.”
“We welcome the opportunity to hear your latest proposals,” Boehner, R-Ohio, wrote. “We look forward to hearing your ideas and working together to solve America’s jobs crisis.”
GOP aides say that the speaker was not made aware of the president’s request for a joint address until 15 minutes prior to the White House’s public announcement.
But according to a White House official, Speaker Boehner’s office was consulted about the September 7th date for the President’s address before the request was made public and no objection or concern was raised.
This is not the first time that Boehner and Obama’s schedules have competed in the public spectrum.
Following the GOP’s electoral triumph last November, the White House announced a Nov. 18 meeting with the president and Congressional leadership without first confirming the attendance of the GOP leaders. After Boehner cited a scheduling conflict, the Oval Office sit-down was eventually rescheduled to Nov. 30.
Boehner is not the only Republican displeased with the president’s proposed timing for the widely anticipated address on job creation. Earlier Wednesday, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus criticized Obama for trying to steal the show from Republicans vying to defeat him and participating in the GOP debate at the Reagan Library in California.
“President Obama’s decision to address Congress at the same time as a long-scheduled Republican Presidential debate cements his reputation as Campaigner-in-Chief,” Priebus wrote in a statement. “While the White House claims it’s simply a ‘coincidence,’ the American people can see right through that excuse.”
While Boehner’s proposal to have the joint session a day later solves the quandary between a presidential primetime address and the GOP debate, if accepted, the speaker’s proposal would likely match the president up in primetime against the NFL’s season opener on NBC between the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints.
In order to appear before a joint session of Congress, both chambers must adopt a concurrent resolution permitting the use of the House chamber for a joint session of Congress. The fastest way to adopt a concurrent resolution typically has been to obtain unanimous consent, which a single member of the House or Senate could object to.
Prior to Boehner’s proposal for an alternative date, Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, was actively considering whether to object to the UC agreement.
When asked whether Paul is planning to withhold his consent, his national press secretary Gary Howard told ABC News, “He’s weighing his options.”
If any lawmaker in either chamber of Congress objects to the UC request, a full roll call vote would be forced, thus the dilemma Boehner would face if the address was scheduled next Wednesday. According to the House schedule the earliest the lower chamber could currently hold a roll call vote is September 7, after 6:30 p.m. just hours before the president had initially asked to deliver his address.
ABC News’ Jason Volack contributed to this report.
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