House Republican leaders today continued to push for inclusion in building an economic stimulus package, while their Democratic counterparts argue a plan needs to be passed sooner rather than later.

The Democratic plan, currently making its way through committees, is en route to the House floor for a vote next week, according to Speaker Nancy Pelosi. However, Republicans in the House are upset that they've been left out of the process, despite President Obama's statement that he was open to any and all ideas, no matter what side of the aisle they come from.

House Minority Leader John Boehner said today that Republicans "were told we should expect a meeting with the president next week to outline our plans to him." Republican leaders in the House and Senate will also be present at a bipartisan meeting tomorrow morning at the White House.

Meanwhile, Boehner said, "it appears House Democrats are going to continue to barrel ahead" with their plan without including Republican ideas.

"We want to include them," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters today. "We welcome their ideas." However, he also said that the stimulus bill that will come to a vote on the House floor next week will likely be "pretty close to" the Democratic bill making its way through committees now.

"I would like to see us have a large bipartisan vote," Hoyer said. "But we have to act...to get the economy moving."

At her weekly news conference today, Pelosi explained the reasoning behind the Democrats' quick action on the bill and reiterated her commitment to have the package passed by Feb. 13, when Congress leaves for its scheduled President's Day recess.

"This is the crucial first step in a concerted effort to jump start the economy," Pelosi said. "Every month we don't have an economic recovery package, 500,000 Americans lose jobs."

At his morning press conference, Boehner questioned how the Democrats' bill would actually create jobs and maintained Republicans needed to be included in the process. Hoyer said the Democratic bill was forged after "extensive discussions" with the previous and current administrations, as well as economists on the left and right of the political spectrum.

"From a Republican standpoint, this is probably the largest tax cut they're going to get to vote for over the next 24 months," Hoyer said. "They should grab it."