President Barack Obama (Photo: Reuters)
President Barack Obama urged Congress on Wednesday to move swiftly to approve a deal to reopen the US government and remove the threat of a potentially devastating default.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama was grateful to the leaders of the Senate for working together and wanted lawmakers now to ensure "the government reopens and the threat of default is removed."
"We obviously hope that each house will be able to act swiftly because we're already on Day 16, I think ... of a wholly unnecessary shutdown of government with real consequences for real people," Carney added.
"And we are obviously very close to the point beyond which the United States Treasury no longer has the authority to borrow new money to meet our obligations."
The White House reaction came after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the top Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, announced an agreement that would reopen the government with a temporary budget until January 15 and extend US borrowing authority until February 7.
The measure would have to be approved by the Senate and the Republican-controlled House, where Tea Party Republicans until now have refused a compromise without major concessions by Obama.
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