President Barack Obama --seeking to sell Republicans on a revival of "grand bargain" talks -- has invited 2012 GOP veep candidate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the chairman of the House Budget Committee, over to the White House for lunch on Thursday, POLITICO has learned. 
 
 Obama, who has always regarded Ryan as one of the leading intellectual forces of the opposition, has also invited the committee's ranking member Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). The idea for the chat-and-chew came during an extended phone conversation between Obama and Ryan earlier this week. 
 
 (PHOTOS: Paul Ryan through the years) 
 
 The meeting comes hours after the president supped with a handful of GOP senators at the Jefferson Hotel near the White House, a move that marked an abrupt shift from his post-election "outside" strategy" intended to pressure Republicans to accept new revenue increases as part of any new budget deal through a series of campaign-style events. 
 
 By speaking directly with Ryan, Obama is hoping to enlist a powerful ally in convincing leadership to abandon its insistence on subjecting all future measures on the debt, deficit, taxes and entitlement reform to "regular order," the tortuous committee process dominated by party conservatives, according to a person close to the process. 
 
 During the 2012 campaign, Obama attacked Ryan's budget proposals, especially the congressman's planned long-term cuts to Medicare. 
 
 Ryan's new blueprint, expected to be released within days, is expected to contain a similar mix of cuts, a voucher-like proposal for Medicare recipients currently 55 or younger -- but none of the new revenue-producing tax reforms Obama wants. 
 
 Read more about: Obama, Budget, Ryan, Van Hollen ||||| President Obama meets with Paul Ryan as part of an ongoing outreach to congressional Republicans. 
 
 President Obama (Photo: Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images) Story Highlights Obama lunches with Rep. Paul Ryan, the 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee 
 
 Wednesday night, the president dined with a dozen GOP senators 
 
 The parties dispute the role of taxes in debt reduction 
 
 President Obama and congressional Republicans say they are hopeful about new White House outreach efforts, but don't yet know whether they will translate to legislative reality. 
 
 After a flurry of phone calls, a private dinner with Republican senators and a White House lunch with a key House member, President Obama and the GOP remain divided over whether a new debt reduction plan should include new taxes. 
 
 "That's the challenge," said Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., one of a dozen Republican senators who dined with Obama on Wednesday. "That's exactly why we've got to stay at it." 
 
 Obama -- looking for an alternative to sequestration, $85 billion in automatic budget cuts that took effect March 1 -- lunched Thursday with Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chairman of the House Budget Committee and the GOP's 2012 vice presidential nominee. The committee's top Democrat, Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, also attended. 
 
 The lunch came one day after the presidential dinner with a dozen Republican senators and within days of Obama's phone calls to other GOP lawmakers. 
 
 Obama continues to push for a new debt reduction agreement that includes more targeted budget cuts and increased tax revenues by eliminating loopholes that benefit the wealthy; Republicans oppose higher taxes as part of any agreement, saying they would slow economic growth. 
 
 House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, described the dinner and other outreach efforts as hopeful signs -- "but if the president continues to insist on tax hikes, I don't think we're going to get very far." 
 
 White House spokesman Jay Carney, meanwhile, said Obama will continue talking to Republicans about a "balanced" plan that includes both cuts and new revenues, so that middle class programs don't bear all the brunt of debt reduction. 
 
 "We'll see where these conversations lead," Carney said. "What the president hopes is that there is a spirit of compromise." 
 
 Carney said Obama is also talking with Republicans about other aspects of his agenda, including an immigration bill and legislation to battle gun violence. 
 
 For his part, Ryan thanked the president for inviting him to lunch and said in a statement that "everyone needs to be a part of this conversation. We need an open debate about how best to balance the budget and expand opportunity." 
 
 The total federal debt now exceeds $16.6 trillion. 
 
 In a telephone interview, Hoeven said the parties have a "four- to five-month window" to reach bipartisan agreement on budget issues. After that, they are likely to be sidetracked by discussions on raising the debt ceiling and early campaigning for the 2014 congressional elections. 
 
 The president needs to stay engaged and avoid public attacks on Republicans, Hoeven said. And Republicans need to make the case that debt reduction should focus on spending cuts. 
 
 "We believe that revenues come from economic growth, not higher taxes," Hoeven said. 
 
 The tax and spending dispute hung over Wednesday night's dinner with Obama and Republican senators at The Jefferson hotel in downtown Washington (and, yes, the White House confirmed that the president picked up the check personally, but did not provide an amount). 
 
 The menu featured a selection of appetizers that included golden beet soup and Maryland blue crab risotto, with entrees that ranged from Colorado lamb to lobster thermidor, according to the hotel. The dessert menu featured peanut butter crumble and "Heart of Guana Chocolate Tart." 
 
 Carney said Obama "found the dinner very constructive and very pleasant." Carney declined to provide details of the talks, saying the White House is looking "to help foster an environment where these conversations are productive." 
 
 Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, gave reporters a thumbs-up after the dinner at The Jefferson hotel. 
 
 McCain sat next to the president during the proceedings, participants said. 
 
 Another Republican diner, Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, told Fox and Friends on Thursday, "I'm hoping this is a new approach on the part of the president." 
 
 The parties didn't strike a deal, but "that isn't going to happen over one dinner," Toomey said. "But I think it was a constructive exchange." 
 
 Other Republican senators who dined with Obama: Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Bob Corker of Tennessee, Dan Coats of Indiana, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Mike Johanns of Nebraska, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia. 
 
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– President Obama has invited Paul Ryan to come have lunch with him at the White House today, the latest step in his post-sequester charm offensive. "I appreciate the president's invitation, and I look forward to our conversation," said the House Budget Committee chair in a statement, per USA Today. It reports that they won't be dining a deux: The committee's top Democrat, Maryland's Chris Van Hollen, will join. Obama is trying to revive hopes of a "grand bargain," and Ryan would be a powerful ally in that push. But Ryan's budget, which is due within days, is expected to resemble his past efforts, which Obama has vigorously criticized. In particular, it'll include his controversial Medicare voucher idea, Politico reports. The powwow comes after Obama's dinner last night with a number of GOP senators at the upscale Jefferson Hotel. John McCain and Tom Coburn each emerged from the meeting flashing waiting reporters a thumbs up, the New York Times reports; beyond that, we know precious little about what transpired.