WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest from President Barack Obama’s year-end news conference with reporters at the White House. All times are local.
2:35 p.m.
Closing out a tumultuous year, President Barack Obama sought to lay the groundwork Friday for his last year in office by vowing not to fade into the background, instead pledging to use his remaining months to push longstanding priorities to fruition.
“In 2016, I’m going to leave it all out on the field,” Obama said.
In his annual year-end news conference, Obama portrayed 2015 as one of significant progress for his agenda, pointing to diplomacy with Iran and Cuba and an Asia-Pacific trade agreement as big wins for his administration. He touted a Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage and a rewrite of the No Child Left Behind act as further victories for the causes he’s made central to his presidency.
Still, he said, he plans to do much more in 2016.
“We have shown what is possible when America leads,” the president said.
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2:30 p.m.
President Barack Obama says law enforcement and intelligence officials are looking for ways to better monitor the public communication of suspected terrorists. But he is warning there are limits to what law enforcement can do.
Obama says no government is going to have the ability to “read every person’s text or email or social media, if it’s not posted publicly.” He says the government must try to strike the right balance between surveillance and civil liberties as it tries to stop terrorists from planning attack.
The president says he thinks so far “we’ve struck the right balance.” He says some of the reporting about the San Bernardino shooters’ posting on social media as they carried out the shooting earlier this month “may have gotten garbled.”
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2:25 p.m.
President Barack Obama is applauding Congress for passing a $1.1 trillion bill to fund the government and avert the possibility of a shutdown for the first nine months of next year.
At a news conference, Obama said Congress is ending the year on a “high note” and noted the passage of transportation and education bills.
Obama, who is expected to sign it, says he’s not “wild about everything” in the spending bill. But he says it is a budget that invests in the U.S. military and the middle class.
He says Congress still needs to promote job growth and increase wages, and he says he wants to work with lawmakers next year to reform the criminal justice system.
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2:15 p.m.
President Barack Obama says 6 million people have signed up for coverage under his health care law so far this year.
Officials say that shows the program is strong and providing consumers with a valuable service.
Thursday was the deadline to enroll for coverage that takes effect Jan. 1.
Through Thursday, 6 million people had signed up in the 38 states using the HealthCare.gov website.
Of these, 2.4 million were new customers. Officials say that’s well ahead of new sign-ups at this time last year.
Despite the latest numbers, the administration is not revising its overall enrollment target, which is 10 million paying customers by the end of 2016. That would be a modest gain over this year.
Jan. 31 is the last day to enroll or face potential fines.