Obama Signs Bill Ending Shutdown, Says Crisis Encouraged U.S. Foes

U.S. President Barack Obama warned Thursday that America's political dysfunction had encouraged its enemies and depressed its friends, and said the crisis had left "no winners" in Washington.

Obama called on warring politicians to come together to pass a long term budget and to give up the "brinksmanship" that threatens the economy and squandered the trust of the American people.

The president spoke less than 11 hours after signing legislation that ended a 16-day government shutdown and a showdown over raising his government's borrowing authority.

The bill brought a temporary end to a stand-off that had threatened to pitch the U.S. economy into a historic default.

Obama urged Congress, specifically Republicans in the House of Representatives, to now come together to pass stalled legislation on agriculture and on reforming America's immigration system.

"There's been a lot of discussion lately of the politics of this shutdown," Obama told an audience of returned executive branch workers in the State Dining Room of the White House.

"Let's be clear. There are no winners here. These last few weeks have inflicted completely unnecessary damage on our economy," Obama said.

"Probably nothing has done more damage to America's credibility in the world, our standing with other countries, than the spectacle that we've seen these past several weeks," Obama said.

"It's encouraged our enemies, it's emboldened our competitors and depressed our friends who look to us for steady leadership."

Obama had signed early Thursday a bill ending the two-week U.S. government shutdown and extending the Treasury's borrowing authority.

The White House announcement was the final piece in an agonizing political drama that had raised the prospect of an unprecedented U.S. debt default and rattled markets around the world.

Office of Management and Budget Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell said in a separate statement that the government will try to get back to full operating status as smoothly as possible.

"This has been a particularly challenging time for Federal employees and I want to thank our Nation's dedicated civil servants for their continued commitment to serving the American people," she wrote.

Most employees furloughed for the past two weeks are expected back to work Thursday, Burwell said in a directive to federal agencies.