House Speaker John Boehner today defended the budget deal that kept the government running and expressed low expectations for President Obama's upcoming speech on the deficit.

Boeher, speaking this morning on Fox News, warned the Obama administration that the Republican majority in the U.S. House will not automatically vote for an increase to the nation's debt limit.

"We are not going to do the typical Washington thing and roll over and increase the debt limit without addressing the underlying problem," Boehner said in his first TV interview since reaching a budget agreement for the rest of fiscal 2011.

The United States has about $14.3 trillion in debt. The nation will reach its debt limit -- the amount of money it can legally borrow -- sometime in mid-May.

Friday, the federal government was hours away from shutting its doors when a deal was struck by Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama to cut about $38.5 billion for the remaining six months of the fiscal year.

Boehner predicted he will lose votes this week on the final 2011 budget deal by Tea Party allies among the GOP freshmen because the agreement is far from "perfect."

"If it weren't for House Republican freshmen, we wouldn't be in the majority," Boehner said. "Our freshmen brought a lot of energy to the fight."

There were 28 GOP lawmakers, including Tea Party-backed freshmen such as Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina and Raul Labrador of Idaho, who bucked Boehner early Saturday morning and did not vote on a stopgap budget bill. That measure is in place until Thursday, so the larger budget deal can be finalized.

About the Tea Party movement, whose supporters are insistent on cutting federal spending and reducing the nation's debt, Boehner said he welcomes its involvement.

Read Boehner's op-ed in USA TODAY about upcoming battles over federal spending and the nation's debt.