(CNN) -- President Barack Obama got help from his wife and his vice president Wednesday in continuing a public pressure campaign on Republicans to join Democrats in passing his $447 billion jobs plan. First lady Michelle Obama announced that 270 private companies have pledged to hire 25,000 veterans and their spouses by the end of 2013. The companies are part of a trade group called the American Logistics Association. Their commitment, she said, would fulfill 25% of the president's call for private-sector companies to hire or train 100,000 veterans and military spouses in the next two years. The first lady's announcement preceded a speech by Obama at a joint military base in Virginia on the third and last day of his bus tour through North Carolina and Virginia aimed at pressuring Congress to pass his jobs package.
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NEW: Obama and his vice president push for jobs legislation
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First lady announces companies' pledge to hire 25,000 veterans and their spouses
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Obama blasts Republicans' opposition to his $447 billion jobs bill
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GOP leaders accuse president of dividing the country for short-term political gain
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