President Obama is scheduled to make a statement from the White House on the reopening of government and what's next on his agenda. The statement is scheduled to begin at 10:35 AM ET. You can watch live video above and we'll provide updates throughout.
7:31 AM PT: Oh, the indignities! GOP Rep. Charles Boustany was just informed by Fox host Bill Hemmer that if the president begins soon, Fox may have to interrupt the congressman—who proceeded to say Republicans may shut the government down again in a few months. (To be fair to him, he used less honest language to say that.)
7:36 AM PT: BTW, ICYMI, government is back open.
7:44 AM PT:
7:50 AM PT: While we wait for President Obama: Orrin Hatch shreds Heritage Foundation to shreds for becoming a bastion of radical conservative nihilism.
7:58 AM PT: According to S&P, the Republican shutdown cost at least $24 billion and achieved absolutely nothing. Heckuva' job, GOP.
7:59 AM PT: Oh, it also cut economic growth by at least 0.6 percent. All thanks to the party of Ted Cruz.
8:01 AM PT: Here's the president.
8:02 AM PT: "The first shutdown in more than 17 years is now over. The threat of the first default in more than 200 years is now over." Obama says the shutdown caused "completely unnecessary damage to the economy."
8:04 AM PT: "The American people are completely fed up with Washington. At a moment when our economic recovery demands more jobs, more momentum, we've got another self-inflicted crisis that sets us back. And for what? There's no economic rationale" for what happened. "Some members who pushed for the shutdown say they were doing it to save our economy, but nothing has done more to undermine our economy over the past three years than the kinds of tactics that lead to these manufactured crises."
8:05 AM PT: Shorter Obama: These Republicans aren't just lunatics, they are damaging America's economy and America's standing in the world. "Probably nothing has done more damage ... than the spectacle we've seen over the past few weeks." Obama even says: "It encourages our enemies." This is accurate, but also is going to inflame the loons in the GOP caucus.
8:06 AM PT: "To all my friends in Congress, understand that how business is done in this town has to change." (Surely, idiot Beltway hacks will say that is uncivil.)
8:07 AM PT: Uh oh! President Obama just took a shot at bloggers. :) I'll assume he wasn't talking about us. More like the astro-bloggers with gigs on Fox.
8:11 AM PT: "Let me be specific about three places where I believe we can make progress right now." First, he says, a long-term budget to bring stability and encourage growth. "We shouldn't approach this budget as an ideological exercise ... just cutting for the sake of cutting. ... Remember the deficit is getting smaller, not bigger ... The challenge we have right now are not short-term deficits, it's the long-term obligations we have around Medicare and Social Security." Obama says we need to cut corporate tax loopholes and increase investments in things like infrastructure and education.
8:11 AM PT: Number two: "We should finish the job of fixing our broken immigration system."
8:13 AM PT: On immigration: "This can, and should, get done by the end of this year."
8:14 AM PT: Number three: "We should pass a farm bill." Obama says it should include not just support for farmers, but also food assistance for Americans who need it.
8:16 AM PT: On all three things—budget, immigration, and farm bill—Obama says Congress can get it done by the end of the year. "I understand we won't agree on everything," he concedes. "That's okay. That's democracy. That's how it works. We can debate those difference vigorously, passionately, through the normal democratic process, and sometimes we'll be just too far about to forge an agreement. But that should not hold back our efforts in areas where we do agree. [...] I will look for willing partners wherever I can to get important work done. And there's no reason we can't govern responsibly despite our differences without lurching from manufactured crisis to manufactured crisis." Obama adds that one thing we learned during the shutdown is that smart effective government is important—and that people care about it and value it.
8:18 AM PT: "Let's work together to make the government work better, instead of treating it like an enemy, or making it work worse. That's not what the founders of this nation envisioned when they gave us the gift of self-government. You don't like a particular policy or a particular president? Then argue for your position, or win and election. But don't break it. Don't break what our predecessors spent over 200 years building. That's not being faithful to what this country is about."
8:20 AM PT: Obama to workers who were hit by the shutdown: "Thank you. Thanks for your service. Welcome back. What you do is important. It matters. You defend our country overseas ... you protect our borders [...] you help businesses grow [...] you protect the air we breathe [...] you push the boundaries of science and space. Thank you. What you do is important, and don't let anybody tell you different."
8:21 AM PT: "Disagreement cannot mean dysfunction. It can't degenerate into hatred. [...] Our regard for [the public] compels us all to cooperate, and compromise, and act in the best interests of our nation. One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
8:22 AM PT: And President Obama has concluded his remarks.
9:32 AM PT: Here's the full transcript of the president's remarks.