Given that Congress has signed a budget deal that raises the debt ceiling until March 2017 as well as spending limits until September 2017, Obama has signed his approval too.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Obama said, “Last week, Democrats and Republicans came together to set up a responsible long-term budget process. What we now see is a budget that reflects our values, grows our economy, creates jobs and keeps America safe. It should finally free us from the cycle of shutdown threats and last-minute fixes.”
This deal was the results of weeks of secret negotiations between leaders that included from the House, Senate and senior Obama administration officials.
In particular, it raises both Pentagon and domestic spending caps equally and for the next two years by $80 billion. The debt limit, as mentioned earlier, has been raised through March 15, 2017.
This comes as November 3, 2015 was the date that the Treasury Department set for Congress to reach an agreement about the debt ceiling or risk a default as a result.
Also, the Pentagon’s war spending has been increased by $32 billion for the next two years too. This funding will be used against the Islamic State in Iraq and ISIS in Syria.
The only thing is that while this increases spending caps that was fixed based on a law in 2011, it will not fund the government. That’s the next thing that lawmakers have to worry about.
Leaders in Congress will also have to prepare a new government spending package prior to December 12, 2015 whose parameters will be based on this deal made.