– The federal government reopened Thursday after a 16-day shutdown, and lawmakers and President Barack Obama alike expressed sentiment that they hoped to use the lessons learned from the latest fiscal crisis to prevent it from happening again.

On Thursday morning, Obama delivered a statement where he called on Congress to work together to pass budget, a sweeping immigration package, and a Farm BIll.

“We could get them done by the end of the year,” Obama said. “That’s just the big stuff.”

Sen. Roy Blunt, the lone-Missouri Republican to support the deal passed Wednesday to temporarily raise the debt limit and continue federal spending through early next year, said he agreed with Obama on one of the idea of passing a budget and a Farm Bill.

“It’s time we got back to the business of debating and setting priorities,” Blunt said. “The problem we’ve had for the last 16 days is the kind of problem you eventually have when you don’t do the work that is supposed to be done.”

On immigration, Blunt said he believes Obama would be successful proposing piece-by-piece bits of policy instead of a wider, comprehensive package including issues less palpable to Republicans.

Lawmakers in both chambers appointed conferees Wednesday night to begin working toward agreement on a budget. In the House, agreement was much less solidified than in the Senate. The compromise proposal passed the House with the majority of its support coming from Democrats joined by a minority of Republicans. No Republican from Missouri’s delegation voted in favor of the proposal.

Rep. Ann Wagner, R-St. Louis, said the package sent over by the Senate “did not reflect most, if any, of the work we had been discussing over the past few weeks.”

Wagner said while she and her colleagues “wouldn’t have let” the federal government default on its obligations, she opposed the deal because it did nothing to stall the federal health care law and included earmarks – one of which backed by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

“I’m staring right now at two pages of earmarks and special deals that the Senate snuck in at the end of the hour and got passed,” Wagner said in an interview Thursday from St. Louis, fresh off of a plane from Washington. When asked if she felt Republican leadership was part of the problem, Wagner said, “Politics as usual are part of the problem. People need to be straight up and transparent with the American people.”

Wagner said she agreed a Farm Bill should be moved forward because of its importance to the agribusiness community in the St. Louis region.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, in a statement Wednesday night, said she hopes the agreement can be a “blueprint for future cooperation and compromise.”

“As we turn the page, I’m anxious to get back to work on the things that really matter to Missouri families—like expanding job opportunities, fixing our roads, and making college more affordable,” she said. “But we’re only going to achieve those goals through negotiation, compromise, and moderation.”