White House: Obama supports deal

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday that President Obama supports the budget and debt ceiling agreement reached in the Senate. 

Carney said the deal would reopen the government and “remove the threat of economic brinksmanship.”

{mosads}He also said Obama applauds Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for reaching the bipartisan deal.

“He believes that this agreement achieves what’s necessary,” Carney said. 

He added that the White House was calling on both the House and Senate to “act swiftly” to pass the measure.

Asked if he is confident if the House would pass the legislation, Carney replied, “We are not putting odds on anything.”

It appears likely that the Senate will vote first on the measure. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) have said they will not seek to block it. 

The House Republican Conference is meeting later on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the deal. It is expected to approve it by the end of the day.

Republicans have cast themselves as losers in the battle over raising the debt ceiling and ending the shutdown given polls showing approval of the party tanking. Several GOP senators said they were glad the deal had been reached to prevent further injury to their party. 

But Carney told reporters Wednesday that “there are no winners” in the battle.

“We’ve said that from the beginning,” he said. “The economy has suffered because of it and it was wholly unnecessary.”