Mike Pence gives a speech on Capitol Hill. Pence: Open GOP meetings to press

House Republicans emerged from a closed-door session Wednesday to announce that they’d love to open those doors to the press in the future.

“We have entertained and may well act before the end of the year on allowing the media to attend a House Republican Conference meeting,” GOP Conference Chairman Mike Pence told reporters.


Whether that actually happens remains to be seen, but Pence’s apparent gesture of sunlight had a larger point — Republicans are still bashing Democrats about not opening up the final health care negotiations to be shown on C-SPAN, one of President Barack Obama’s campaign promises. So Pence is thinking about letting the media see what Republicans say behind closed doors.

Meanwhile, Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) is pushing a resolution that would provide more transparency to negotiation sessions on Capitol Hill. He has filed a petition that would expedite the resolution to the floor.

In Wednesday’s closed-door meeting, GOP lawmakers discussed pressuring 37 Democratic lawmakers in swing districts who voted yes on the original legislation to oppose final passage.

A House Republican aide called Rep. Eric Cantor’s whipping a “full-court press.”

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) told his members that "the American people are with" Republicans and he believes "we can beat this bill," according to a leadership aide.