New Hampshire lawmakers are cheering after they helped flip the government's lights back on and avoid a potential default. The sixteen day government shutdown not only frayed the nerves of furloughed federal workers and contractors in the state, it also frayed the Republican Party.
Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte opposes the Affordable Care Act. But she says tea party backed Republicans hurt their own cause by fighting the law instead of opening the government sooner.
“All of the flaws that those of us believe that do exist in Obamacare – that was all overshadowed by the fact that the government was shutdown.”
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen says she's glad Republicans like Ayotte worked in good faith to end the shutdown.
“The real, very real hardship that it’s placed on so many New Hampshire families, so many New Hampshire businesses.”
The last minute deal sets up a new bipartisan committee tasked with finding a solution to the budget impasse by December, which both sides are hoping can avert another shutdown in the coming months.
