White House chief of staff holds budget meeting with Senate Republicans

The Washington Post: White House Chief Of Staff Meets With Senate Republicans On Budget Deal
Earlier this week, the White House considered trying to assemble a group of interested Republicans for further talks, according to Democratic congressional aides. But the administration rejected that approach, and is encouraging Republicans to choose their own negotiating party. Still, several Republicans involved in the process say there is little interest in setting up another "gang" or "supercommittee" to hold private talks with the White House outside the normal committee structure. Instead, senators are talking to the White House about setting a broad framework for moving forward, and then handing the job of drafting a deal off to the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicare as well as tax policy (Montgomery, 4/25).