After being apart for two weeks, President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will have a private luncheon today at the White House. The two typically have a closed-press lunch each week, but their mid-day power tête-à-tête is usually at the end of the week, not the beginning. "The President and I have a routine -- we get lunch together almost every Friday," Biden wrote in a June e-mail to 2012 campaign supporters.
Today's lunch, as is also typical, is in the Oval Office Private Dining Room, at 12:45 PM, according to the President's schedule. There will be a lot to talk about: Beginning on August 15th, the President was away from the White House for three days during his Rural Bus Tour, and then on vacation until last Friday night in Martha's Vineyard. Biden, meanwhile, was home in Wilmington, DE, during the same time, and then on a nine-day tour through China, Mongolia, and Japan. This weekend, Biden was hunkered down in Delaware for Hurricane Irene.
The rest of President Obama's Monday schedule is also closed to press: In the morning, he will receive the Presidential Daily Briefing in the Oval Office. Right before lunch with Biden, he'll meet with Senior Advisors, also in the Oval Office.
*The photo of the President and Vice President lunching in the Oval Office Private Dining Room on Nov. 5, 2009, is by Pete Souza/White House.