On Wednesday evening, the U.S. Senate voted 81 to 18 on a deal that would both reopen and fund the government through January 15, 2014 and also raise the debt ceiling through February 7. Late into the night, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) led the U.S. House of Representatives in passing the agreement by a vote of 285 to 144, just before the widely accepted deadline of October 17 when the nation would default on its debt. The bill was signed into law by President Obama around midnight, and federal agencies re-opened with furloughed staff reinstated on October 17.
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