President Barack Obama was "heavily engaged" in putting together the bipartisan budget deal reached with outgoing House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
The two-year budget agreement will prevent a partial government shutdown in December, increase the debt limit before early November and increase spending for both military and domestic programs. It was a compromise, but one Obama was hands on in helping to craft, according to White House spokesman Eric Schultz.
President Barack Obama talks with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in the Cabinet Room of the White House. (AP)
“Unlike in previous budget agreements, this was a process that the president and the White House was heavily engaged in. The president made a number of calls throughout this process to leaders of both parties in the House and in the Senate,” Schultz told reporters aboard Air Force One Tuesday. “Those calls started in earnest around early- to mid-September.”
In previous budget deals, Vice President Joe Biden worked out a deal with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whereas members of Congress primarily struck other budget deals.
The deal would take a budget debate off the table until after the 2016 presidential election.
Though a compromise, Schultz said the deal met the president’s priorities.
“We feel like in each of these places, this a budget deal that meets those tests,” Schultz said. “We believe this a budget framework that meets the president’s vision.”
Some conservatives were unhappy with the deal, believing that Boehner gave too much away.
However, Boehner has defended the agreement.
“This agreement will protect our economy and reduces the deficit,” Boehner said in a statement. “It secures more long-term entitlement reforms. It strengthens our national security and brings more certainty to next year’s appropriations process. It protects more Americans from ObamaCare and rejects all of the tax increases as proposed by the administration.”
