President Barack Obama on Friday urged Congress to work through the next several weeks to come up with a reasonable budget.
He said that "messing with the debt limit" could put the financial system in a tailspin similar to the financial crisis of 2008. Obama urged the next House speaker to understand "that our system of government requires compromise to pass bills."
Obama said, "There is still a path for us to come up with a reasonable budget agreement to raise spending caps that maintains prudent control of deficits."
In a broader news conference on Friday, the president spoke about several issues including education, Syria, gun control and Congress.
Earlier, Obama said that he was going to continue to talk about the issue of gun control "on a regular basis."
"I will politicize it because our inaction is a political decision that we are making," he told reporters.
Reaction to jobs report
Obama said that although the long-term trend of job creation was positive, even more jobs could be created if "we didn't have to keep dealing with unnecessary crises in Congress every few months."
He called the Friday jobs report "good news" but also said that U.S. growth could slow if Congress does not take action.
Obama urged Congress to approve a bill to fund the government for the current fiscal year to avoid doing damage to the economy at a time when global growth is slowing.
"I will not sign another short-sighted spending bill," Obama told a White House news conference. He said a short-term spending bill passed by lawmakers this week set up an opportunity for a new crisis before Christmas.
New education secretary
Obama started the news conference by announcing that John King Jr. would serve as acting education secretary through the end of the president's term.
Earlier in the day, White House officials said that Education Secretary Arne Duncan would be leaving the post in December. Duncan is one of the longest-serving members of Obama's Cabinet.
Duncan said he was stepping down to move back to Chicago to be with his family. "It's with some regret and sorrow that I've accepted his decision to return to our hometown of Chicago," Obama said. "While I will miss Arne deeply, he has more than earned the right to return home."
King currently serves as deputy secretary. He oversees preschool through high school education and manages the department's operations.
— The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.