US President Barack Obama called on Congress to "pass a budget" ending a government shutdown and warning he would not negotiate over his health care law, dpa reported.
"Pass a budget, end the government shutdown, pay your bills, prevent an economic shutdown," Obama told Congress after it failed to pass a short-term budget deal. "Don't wait, don't delay, don't put our people through this any longer."
In his first public remarks since the government shutdown began at midnight, Obama accused Republicans who have sought to tie a budget to a delay of parts of his health care reforms of waging "an ideological crusade to deny healthcare to millions of Americans."
He stressed that online marketplaces for consumers to buy health insurance had opened Tuesday as scheduled despite the shutdown.