The pair bonded over their shared backgrounds in the Midwest. Ryan, McDonough's secret beer

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and White House chief of staff Denis McDonough secretly met over a beer last month, according to a report.

“It was the first time I have had a candid conversation or a substantial conversation with a member of the Obama administration since they came into power,” Ryan told Time Magazine about the meeting at K Street’s Brasserie Beck. The meeting took place on April 10, the same day Obama released his proposed budget.


The pair bonded over their shared backgrounds in the Midwest and experiences as young congressional aides. McDonough showed up to the meeting knowing his wife, Kari, had graduated from Miami University in Ohio the same year Ryan did.

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“He’s a Minnesota Irish Catholic guy, and I’m a Wisconsin Irish Catholic guy,” Ryan told the magazine. “It quickly dawned on me that we can work together.”

The meeting didn’t lead to major progress in negotiations, but it wasn’t intended to. Rather, it was part of the White House’s ongoing “charm offensive” to Washington Republicans, which also included the round of golf President Barack Obama played with three senators on Monday and multiple dinners Obama has hosted and attended in recent months. The meeting came on the same day, April 10, that the president released his 2013 budget and met with GOP senators for dinner at the White House.

While the Belgian restaurant — which Ryan mistakenly thought was French — has 115 beers on its menu, it didn’t have Ryan’s personal favorite, Miller Lite. He ordered a lager instead. No word on what McDonough drank.