Accessibility links

Breaking News
USA

Obama Signs Bill to End US Government Shutdown


President Barack Obama walks out to make a statement to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013.
President Barack Obama walks out to make a statement to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013.
U.S. President Barack Obama has signed into law a last-minute compromise bill to reopen the federal government and raise the debt ceiling to avoid a potential U.S. debt default.

The president signed the bill early Thursday morning after a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

Members of the House of Representatives approved the plan late Wednesday by a vote of 285 to 144 after it was approved by the Senate earlier in the day by a vote of 81 to 18.

The White House budget office said federal workers should plan to return to work Thursday morning.

Obama thanked leaders of both parties and said it is time to earn back the lost trust of the American people.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, and his Republican colleague, Mitch McConnell, put together the composite bill on Wednesday, a day before the current borrowing authority expired.

The bill will keep the government running until at least January 15 and raise the borrowing limit enough to put off the risk of default until at least February 7. In the meantime, lawmakers will negotiate on spending cuts.

Reid called the partial government shutdown and anxiety caused by a possible default a manufactured crisis that inflicted pain on the country for no good reason.

If the debt ceiling was not raised, the United States would lose the authority to borrow money to keep paying its bills.

The government shut down on October 1 when the Senate rejected House demands to defund or delay President Obama's health care law as part of a spending bill. The president has said he will not negotiate any changes in the law until the government reopens.

House Speaker John Boehner said House Republicans fought with everything they had to force negotiations on the law, nicknamed "Obamacare." He said his party will continue to push for legislative oversight and highlight perceived flaws in the scheme.
  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG