It's Over: House Passes Senate-Backed Deal

Obama signs bill: We need to stop 'governing by crisis'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 16, 2013 7:08 PM CDT
Updated Oct 17, 2013 12:03 AM CDT
Bill to Reopen Government Clears Senate; House Next
Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnel is surrounded by reporters as he walks to the Senate floor on Monday.   (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Federal workers, prepare to rejoin the morning commute. The Senate tonight passed its bill to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling by a vote of 81-18, the AP reports; the House backed the bill 285-144, just hours before the Treasury would have lost its authority to borrow money. Eighty-seven House Republicans voted in favor of the measure, along with all their Democratic colleagues, NBC News reports. Success became clear in the late afternoon, when John Boehner packed it in and said House Republicans wouldn't try to block the Senate measure. The deal ends the 16-day shutdown and raises the debt ceiling through the first week of February, CNN notes.

Some reactions:

  • President Obama: After the Senate vote, he promised to sign the bill "immediately"—and did so at 12:30am, the New York Times reports. He added that "we've got to get out of the habit of governing by crisis," reports Business Insider.
  • Ted Cruz: "This is a terrible deal," he said from the Senate floor, as quoted by the Washington Post. “Unfortunately today, the United States Senate is saying (to ObamaCare opponents), 'You don’t have a voice in Washington." Cruz, however, said he was inspired by the number of Americans "rising up" against the health law.
  • John McCain: "We inflicted pain on the American people that was totally unnecessary and we cannot do this again," he told NBC. (As tweeted by Reuters.)
  • Chuck Schumer: He praised Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell for working with Harry Reid on a deal, notes CNN. "Leader McConnell stepped up for the good of the nation."
  • Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas: "This isn't the end of the game," he told CNN, a reference to GOP plans to go after ObamaCare again.
(More government shutdown stories.)

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