Obama: Focus on budget, immigration, farm bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government shutdown behind him, President Barack Obama focused Thursday on a new, trimmed down agenda by challenging Congress to overcome bitter partisan division and pass a budget and a farm bill and overhaul immigration.

The president said getting through those three priorities would help Washington move beyond “the cloud of crisis” created by the 16-day partial shuttering of government operations. But he acknowledge the political reality that even passing such a slimmed-down agenda by the end of the year will be tough.