Government Re-Opened, Federal Employees Called Back to Work Thursday

Congress voted Wednesday night to re-open the government and raise the debt limit, clearing the way for federal employees to return to work Thursday and avoiding a first-ever default.

The federal Office of Personnel Management said federal employees who have been furloughed since Oct. 1 should expect to return to work on Thursday.

The vote in the Senate was 81 to 18 and in the House of Representatives it was 285 to 144.

Among San Diego County's Congressional delegation, Democrats Scott Peters, Susan Davis and Juan Vargas voted for the measure, as did Republican Darrell Issa. Republican Duncan Hunter voted against.

“The bipartisan, reasonable solution that I voted for tonight is what Americans expect Congress to produce on a much more regular basis,” Peters said in a statement. “There was never any reason to use a government shutdown or the threat of default as leverage for policy."

The Treasury Department said in a report to Congress earlier this month that a default “would be unprecedented and has the potential to be catastrophic,” causing a "recession that could echo the events of 2008 or worse.”