Congress votes to end shutdown, lift debt ceiling

Congress votes to end shutdown, lift debt ceiling
16-day government shutdown to end
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to reopen the government and raise the nation’s borrowing limit, ending a 16-day shutdown that brought the nation close to default.

By a commanding 81-to-18 margin, the bill easily passed the U.S. Senate, and it cleared the House of Representatives by a 285-to-144 margin. Every Democrat in Congress supported the legislation, while a majority of Republicans in the House — including budget chairman Paul Ryan — voted against the bill. Read about the Senate Republicans who voted against the legislation.

“We fought the good fight, we just didn’t win,” Speaker John Boehner told an Ohio radio station earlier in the day. Boehner didn’t speak during the brief debate on the floor of the House.

President Barack Obama praised leaders of both parties after the Senate vote, saying: “We’ll begin reopening our government immediately, and we can begin to lift this cloud of uncertainty and unease from our businesses and from the American people.” Read full text of Obama comments.

Obama signed the bill into law early Thursday, shortly after midnight.

The bill was drafted by Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, struck after a competing House plan blew up late Tuesday night.

The deal would finance the federal government until Jan. 15, keeping “sequester” spending levels — something McConnell said was a “top priority” for Republicans. Read McConnell’s remarks.

The borrowing limit would be raised until Feb. 7, from a ceiling that was expected to be reached on Thursday. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/congress-rac...beforebell