WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- President Obama was pressed by three Republican governors Monday to lighten the load of federal mandates and regulations on U.S. states.
"In South Carolina we can't pass our own bills without [Obama] getting in the way," South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said. "We pass illegal immigration reform, he stops it. We pass voter ID, he stops it. We get Boeing in, he stops it. This president is trying to handle the entire country and he's failing."
Haley's criticism came after she and fellow governors Bob McDonnell of Virginia and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana took part in a bipartisan meeting with the Democratic president in the White House during the Republican Governors Association gathering in Washington, The Hill reported.
McDonnell said he asked Obama to cut down on the number of unfunded mandates, as well as federal statutes and environment regulations, healthcare reform laws and "education demands," the Washington publication said.
"We asked him to back off on those and review the existing mandates on the states, and to his credit, he agreed to work with the governors," McDonnell said.
Jindal said he came away from the White House session more convinced than ever the country needs a conservative president.
