After debt deal, Obama takes staff to burger lunch
After weeks of fraught debate in Washington over raising the debt ceiling, President Obama on Wednesday treated his staff to a burger lunch on Capitol Hill in celebration of the issue's Tuesday resolution.
"It smells good," Mr. Obama told customers upon reaching Good Stuff eatery, where he went with a handful of senior White House officials. "Michelle eats here all the time, but I don't get out."
Among those at the lunch were White House budget director Jack Lew, Vice President Joe Biden's chief of staff Bruce Reed, Director of the National Economic Council Gene Sperling, and Mr. Obama's special assistant and personal aide Reggie Love.
After waiting in line to order, the president bought his staff's lunch - and also paid for the woman standing next to him in line.
Mandy Parker, a 13-year-old dining at the restaurant, said she felt vindicated to have finally had a run-in with the president - particularly because a couple of her friends had once sat next to him at a basketball game.
"Now it's even Steven," she said.
But the affair wasn't without its political moments: Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., also stopped in for a chat.
"We talked about the difficult vote the other night," he told reporters. "I explained to him that I didn't vote with him, but I'm glad that it passed. He said he understood."
