Obama reaching out to some Republican senators to resolve sequester

U.S. President Barack Obama greets Republican leaders, Speaker John Boehner (c) and Eric Cantor (r). PHOTO/ Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

After weeks of stalemate with Republican leadership over a deal to replace the wide-ranging, across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration, President Obama has been reaching out and speaking with a new set of Republican lawmakers — the so-called “common sense caucus” — about the nation’s fiscal issues and the possibility for a deal to resolve them.

What appears a renewed possibility as a result of the president’s outreach is the kind of tradeoff that Obama and House Speaker John Boehner discussed back in 2011: Republicans would agree to increases in tax revenue — as a result of reform of the tax code — in return for Democrats accepting changes and potential cost savings in entitlement programs such as Medicare.

Obama’s effort comes as the focus on Capitol Hill has quickly shifted from the spending cuts known as “the sequester” to negotiations over a budget plan for the new fiscal year which begins on October 1.

Read more: NBC Politics