National Governors Association will not have meeting at WH after Trump excludes Democrats: report

The National Governors Association will not have its annual meeting at the White House later this month, after President Trump excluded Democratic governors from White House events, according to a news report Tuesday.In addition,18 Democratic governors announced they would boycott an upcoming traditional dinner at the White House, according to the Associated Press.
“If the reports are true that not all governors are invited to these events, which have historically been productive and bipartisan opportunities for collaboration, we will not be attending the White House dinner this year,” the Democrats wrote. “Democratic governors remain united and will never stop fighting to protect and make life better for people in our states.”
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R), chairman of the NGA, told fellow governors in a letter Monday that the White House intended to limit invitations to the association’s annual business meeting, scheduled for Feb. 20, to GOP governors only.
“Because NGA’s mission is to represent all 55 governors, the Association is no longer serving as the facilitator for that event, and it is no longer included in our official program,” Stitt wrote in the letter, which the AP obtained.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that Trump has “discretion to invite anyone he wants to the White House.”
“It’s the people’s house,” Leavitt said. “It’s also the president’s home, so he can invite whomever he wants to dinners and events here at the White House.”
Representatives for NGA and Stitt didn’t provide comment to the AP on the letter.
Last week, NGA CEO Brandon Tatum said that the White House meeting is an “important tradition,” and said the group was “disappointed in the administration’s decision to make it a partisan occasion this year.”
Stitt encouraged the group in his letter to unite around common goals.
“We cannot allow one divisive action to achieve its goal of dividing us,” Stitt wrote. “The solution is not to respond in kind, but to rise above and to remain focused on our shared duty to the people we serve. America’s governors have always been models of pragmatic leadership, and that example is most important when Washington grows distracted by politics.”

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