GOP freshman rejects invitation to White House, citing drilling concerns

Rep. Jeff Landry (La.), a freshman Republican lawmaker, rejected an invitation to meet with President Obama Wednesday to disuss a potential compromise on deficit reduction, arguing that the president is not doing enough to encourage drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

“The President has done nothing, just like he has for the people of the Gulf Coast,” Landry said.

“For months, the Louisiana delegation has sent the president numerous requests to meet with him or his chief of staff concerning the de facto moratorium issued in the Gulf of Mexico, a de facto moratorium that has driven gas prices up and now threatens to derail economic recovery; the president hasn’t even had the courtesy to write us a note back.”

Landry's criticism of the administration comes on the same day the Interior Department announced the approval of the fifteenth deepwater permit in the Gulf since last year's oil spill. The permit, which went to BHP Billiton Petroleum, is for a new well to be drilled about 120 miles off the Louisiana coast.

Here's more on Landry's decision not to attend the meeting, to which the entire House GOP caucus was invited.