US president Barack Obama says he will not negotiate with Congress over raising the country’s debt ceiling.
Speaking at a year-end press conference in Washington, he praised Congress for a recent budget compromise that averted a fresh government shutdown. But he told reporters that the debt ceiling is not something that ought to be used as leverage and he does not expect another stand-off over the issue. He said US lawmakers should raise the federal government’s borrowing cap in a timely manner.
U.S. President Barack Obama hosts the year-end press conference in the Brady
Briefing Room of the White House in Washington D.C., capital of the United
States, Dec. 20, 2013. (Xinhua/Zhang Jun)
To avoid a repeat of October’s government shut down, Congress will need to approve a new deal soon. So far, they have only approved a short-term deal to fund the government through January 15th and raise the debt ceiling until February 7th.
