Obama invites Boehner to White House meeting

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has reached out to House Speaker John Boehner for a rare one-on-one meeting between the political rivals.

The Democratic president and Republican speaker plan to meet privately in the Oval Office midday Tuesday. It will be their first meeting alone at the White House since December 2012, when they failed to reach agreement on tax reform and spending cuts during deficit-reduction talks.

The two men have spoken by phone and met as part of a larger group in the past year. But their relationship has been one of mutual criticism over fiscal issues and policy, particularly Obama's health care law.

Aides to both men say they plan to discuss a wide range of topics on the legislative agenda and that Obama initiated the meeting.