President Barack Obama won a second term, defeating Republican Mitt Romney and setting the stage for a possible “grand bargain” on sequestration and on the expiration of the Bush tax cuts.

Before the election, Obama said he would pursue a bipartisan deal to avert the automatic severe spending cuts set to go into effect in January under the 2011 debt ceiling agreement. GOP leaders have been pressing to extend the tax cuts as a top priority.

With the GOP controlling the House and Democrats, the Senate, as before, there could be a move toward bipartisanship, or a return to gridlock.