US President Barack Obama said on Monday that there are enough votes in the US House of Representatives to end the government shutdown, which is now into its second week. He said that he has heard over the weekend that Congress doesn't have the capacity to end this shutdown. However, the truth of the matter is that there are enough Republican and Democratic votes in the House of Representatives right now to end the shutdown immediately with no partisan strings attached.Obama was referring to a statement made by John Boehner, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, that he does not have enough votes to end the government shutdown. President Obama said that the House should hold that vote today and if the Republicans and Speaker Boehner is saying there are not enough votes, then they should prove it. The American people simply want government to work, Obama said. The White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, said the President is open to negotiation all year long, and remains so today. The shutdown has left federal employees on unpaid leave and closed national parks, tourist sites, official websites, office buildings, and more establishments since last Tuesday.Most of the 400,000 Pentagon staff were ordered on Sunday to return to work by Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel invoking the Pay Our Military Act.Congress must act by October 17 in order to avoid a debt default by the US government. The government will run out of cash on that day for the first time in US history unless its debt ceiling is raised.