President Barack Obama late Wednesday applauded a congressional deal to reopen the federal government and raise the nation’s debt ceiling, and called for a new spirit of bipartisanship to tackle national challenges going forward.
“There is a lot of work ahead of us, including our need to earn back the trust of the American people that has been lost over the past few weeks,” Obama said in remarks from the White House briefing room. "And we can begin to do that by addressing the real issues that they care about."
The short statement came moments after the Senate passed a compromise that will fund the government through Jan. 15 and extend U.S. borrowing power until Feb. 7. The legislation now heads to the House of Representatives where it is expected to pass after Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, announced that Republicans would not wholly attempt to oppose it.
The president thanked congressional leaders for coming together, and said he hopes to see a new level of bipartisanship going forward to address issues like immigration reform and a long-term budget deal.
"We could get all these things done, even this year, if everybody comes together in the spirit of how are we going to move this country forward and put the last three weeks behind us," Obama said.
The president said he is willing to sit down with any Republican to negotiate going forward, adding that Democrats do not have "a monopoly on good ideas."
Wednesday's deal was largely seen as a victory for the White House after the president pledged not to negotiate over the nation’s debt limit or sign a government funding bill that delayed or defunded any provision of the Affordable Care Act.
It also calls for a long-term budget plan to be established by the middle of December in the hopes of avoiding more budget battles early next year.
Though Obama took no questions, he did respond to one shouted question about whether the temporary extensions mean the country will go through the same negotiating battle in just a few months.
"No," the president yelled back before exiting the room.
