WASHINGTON (AP) – Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew says he is optimistic that President Barack Obama will be able to reach an agreement with Republicans in Congress to break a budget impasse that has triggered across-the-board government spending cuts.

Lew says Obama has been “deeply engaged over the past week in trying to open the door for conversations” with lawmakers in the search for a “sensible center.”

He says he thinks there is a “broad understanding of what an ultimate solution probably looks like, but we need to figure out the path to get from here to there.”

Lew was speaking to reporters after touring a Siemens AG manufacturing plant outside Atlanta. It is his first trip since being sworn in as Treasury secretary last month.