WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and Congress stand at a junction.

The road the country has been on for the past five years is now beginning to come to an end. The Federal Reserve, which pumped $3 trillion into the economy to keep the Great Recession from worsening, is withdrawing its financial lifeline amid signs of fresh economic growth. The nation’s gross domestic product is inching up, and annual federal budget deficits are heading down.