Obama lauds absence of EPA riders in spending deal

President Obama’s late-night statement on the bipartisan spending deal reached Friday – which averts a partial government shutdown – cheers the omission of GOP-backed provisions that would have blocked funding for EPA climate change rules and other agency policies.

“We ... made sure that at the end of the day, this was a debate about spending cuts, not social issues like women’s health and the protection of our air and water. These are important issues that deserve discussion, just not during a debate about our budget,” Obama said late Friday night.

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