Obama signs budget bill averting government shutdown

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama on Monday signed the country's budget bill, which will keep the U.S. government from default and averts the threat of a shutdown for two years.

The "Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015" won broad support from Senate Democrats and concern from Republicans that the total spending package was too high, but a bipartisan spirit, and a deadline, prevailed in directing the bill to the president's desk. It passed in the Senate last week by 64-35, a vote held Friday at 3 a.m.

In signing the bill Monday in the White House, Obama noted "the work that the Democratic and Republican leaders did to get this to my desk."

"I think it is a signal of how Washington should work, and my hope is now that they build on this agreement with spending bills that also invest in America's priorities without getting sidetracked by a whole bunch of ideological issues that have nothing to do with our budget."

The comprehensive bill extends the debt ceiling through 2017, increases federal spending by $80 billion, reforms some elements of the Social Security Disability Insurance program and changes certain provisions of tax law, among other elements.