Lawmakers invited to Camp David for bipartisan meeting

White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has invited a bipartisan group of lawmakers to Camp David this weekend for informal meetings, a White House official confirmed on Tuesday.

Democrats and Republicans from the House and Senate are expected to huddle with administration officials at the presidential retreat near Thurmont, Md. There is “no agenda” for the gathering, said the official, who declined to name invitees.

President Trump is not expected to attend.

{mosads}The invitation, which was first reported by Politico, marks one of the first significant efforts to reach across the aisle by the Trump administration since the 35-day government shutdown ended last month.

It comes as tensions between Trump and Democrats are running near an all-time high, with another shutdown possible on Feb. 15 if lawmakers refuse the president’s demand for $5.7 billion in border wall funding.

Democrats, who took control of the House in January, have also been determined to investigate Trump’s administration and business practices.

But Trump is expected to lay out some bipartisan initiatives in his State of the Union address on Tuesday on areas like drug pricing and infrastructure, and the White House will need to build closer relationships with Democratic lawmakers if they hope to see their proposals become law.

Mulvaney, a former House GOP lawmaker, recently invited a Republican-only to Camp David that included Sens. James Lankford (Okla.), Rob Portman (Ohio), Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Kevin Cramer (N.D.) and David Perdue (Ga.), according to Politico.

The former South Carolina congressman was elected during the 2010 Tea Party wave and was not known to have strong ties to many Democrats, though he still has relationships with several Republicans with whom he served before entering the administration in 2017.