GOP hopes to shed 'shutdown' label with budget deal

Only one-third of House and Senate Republicans voted for the two-year budget and debt ceiling deal that President Obama signed into law on Nov. 2, but the GOP is hoping the accord will nonetheless help it shed a politically damaging Democratic talking point.

For years, Democrats and Obama have labeled the GOP the "shutdown party," thanks in part to annual disagreements over government funding levels that were unresolved until the last minute.

The two-year budget deal ends that uncertainty by setting spending levels for both fiscal 2016 and 2017. The deal also suspends the debt limit until March 2017, allowing the Treasury to borrow as much as it needs to above the $18.1 trillion debt limit.

Many Republicans hated the deal, but still, some in the GOP say it might force Democrats to stop saying Republicans are rooting for a shutdown.

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