President Obama Announces Budget Deal To Avoid Government Shutdown

The big news of the night is that the government will indeed not shut down, as a deal was reached on a federal budget through the end of the year (in the meantime, a stopgap measure will be passed so the larger deal can be finalized). President Barack Obama spoke on the deal, praising Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House John Boehner, as well as the deal itself.

Obama opened his speech noting the Washington Monument in the background, proudly noting it will be “open for business” tomorrow along with the rest of the federal government and citing it as an example of “the sense of pride and possibility that defines America.” Another example of such? The budget deal itself, which Obama called “a budget that invests in the future while making the largest annual spending cut in our history,” punctuating this assertion with a “win the future.” And while he acknowledged not everything is rosy:

“Some of the cuts we agreed to will be painful…I would not have made these cuts in better circumstances.”

…overall, the president seemed quite pleased with Congress’ ability to “get past our petty grievances and make things right.” And citing the Washington Monument again, he praised the U.S. as “a land of many that has always found a way to move forward as one.” Through the end of the fiscal year, anyway. Video of Obama’s remarks, via CNN, below.

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