HOLLAND, Mich. — In the seven days since Standard & Poor’s downgraded the country’s credit rating, political observers and frustrated Americans alike have asked this same question: Why doesn’t President Obama haul lawmakers back to Washington to deal with the worsening economic woes?

On Thursday, Mr. Obama gave his answer. “The last thing we need is Congress spending more time arguing in D.C.,” he said in an angry speech before workers and executives at a battery plant here.

Rather, the president said, echoing what his aides have been saying privately for days, “What I figure is, they need to spend more time out here, listening to you, and hearing how fed up you are.”