Gibbs: WH still determined to 'change the way Washington works'

The Obama administration has not "done all that we want to do to change the way Washington works" just yet, the White House's chief spokesman said Wednesday.

Speaking a year to the day since President Barack Obama took the oath of office, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs stressed the White House still hoped to accomplish quite a lot -- from fixing the economy to passing healthcare reform, he told CNN's "The Situation Room,"

"I'm here today exactly one year after I first came to work at the White House. We have not done all that we want to do to change the way Washington works. But the President woke up today, just as he did a year ago determined to change the way Washington works," Gibbs said during the interview.

But Democrats have openly acknowledged that agenda could face severe obstacles following the election of Republican Scott Brown as Massachusetts' next senator. Notably, Brown campaigned on being the 41st vote against healthcare, jeopardizing Democrats' plan of passing their reform bill.

However, Gibbs stressed on Wednesday that Democrats' loss of a supermajority in Congress would not deter the administration's goal of passing healthcare reform as soon as possible.

[T]he idea that some have in ramming something through the Senate before Senator-Elect Brown was seated is not an option as far as he's concerned. We are not going to go that route," he said.
 
"A bill has already passed the Senate. So one of the options, as you mentioned earlier, is to try that legislation through the House.  But again, the President's focused on getting something done," Gibbs added. "It's long past time to get health care reform passed into law and make it a reality for American families."

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