Obama urges Congress to fund government

President Barack Obama on Saturday urged the U.S. Congress to approve a bill to fund the government for the current fiscal year to avoid doing damage to the economy at a time global growth is slowing.

“Congress should do its job, stop kicking the can down the road, and pass a serious budget rather than flirt with another shutdown. A serious budget is one that keeps America strong through our military, our law enforcement; that keeps America generous through caring for our veterans and our seniors; that keeps America competitive by educating our kids and our workers,” Obama said in his weekly address.

On Wednesday, just hours before a midnight deadline when government agency funds were due to run out, Congress extended current spending levels through Dec. 11. That left only 10 weeks to set a budget for the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, 2016.

That deadline, and the need to raise the government’s debt ceiling expected in early November, loom as Republicans struggle to find a successor for House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner.

Many conservative Republicans balk at raising the debt limit without a plan in place for long-term deficit reduction.