The Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, have come up with the Reid McConnel deal, which was passed earlier Wednesday by both the House and Senate, ultimately ending the government shutdown and avoiding default.The plan will fund the government through January 15th, and then raise the debt ceiling through February 7th of next year.
The Reid McConnel deal passed the Democratic-led Senate at a staggering 81-18 through a bi-partisan vote. The bill was then sent to the US House of Representatives and passed by 285 votes to 144, making up just a smidge over the two thirds to pass it, with support of the bill coming from a minority of Republicans, and a majority of Democrats. Obama signed the bill into law at about 11:30 AM CST.
The White House budget office announced that federal workers are planned to return to work on Thursday. “Non-essential” parts of government will be up and running again, with reopened parks, thorough inspections by the USDA, and funding for NASA.
The bill does not make any noticeable changes regarding the Affordable Care Act, to which House Republican leaders originally sought to fight and derail.
Reid and McConnel came together earlier this week to come up with a plan, since discussion of a potential compromise between President Obama and House Republicans was stonewalled.
After the announcement about the agreement with McConnell, Reid urged Congress to consider finally burying the axe of the divide created by the partisanship.
“This is not a time for pointing fingers and blame. This is a time of reconciliation,” Reid said “I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of this great Capitol to pass this remarkable agreement that will protect the long term health of our economy and avert a default on our nation’s debt, and allow us to set a foundation for economic expansion.”
“What we’ve done is sent a message to Americans from every one of our 50 states, but in addition to that, to the citizens of every country in the world, that the United States lives up to its obligations.”
(Pictures via WikiCommons (1), (2) (3))
