
President Joe Biden reiterated Friday night that neither party got "everything" they wanted in the debt ceiling negotiations but argued it was "critical" to reach an agreement to avoid a national default.
Biden delivered a prime-time address at 7 p.m. from the Oval Office detailing the "crisis averted" last week.
Biden, who confirmed that he will sign the debt ceiling bill into law on Saturday, opened by pushing back on the notion that bipartisanship in Washington is waning.
"Our fellow Americans, when I ran for president, I was told the days of bipartisanship were over, that Democrats and Republicans can no longer work together, but I refuse to believe that," the president stated. "America can never give in to that way of thinking. The only way American democracy can function is through compromise and consensus, and that’s what I worked to do as your president to forge this bipartisan agreement."