Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey isn't shy about speaking out.

And in a Tuesday budget address, he offered some advice for government officials in the nation's capital.

"It seems to me that our leaders in Washington, D.C., especially this week, could learn something from our example here," he said, as Capitol Hill and the White House blame each other for the approaching federal spending cuts, known inside the Beltway as the sequester.

"Their failure to take on the nation's budget challenges and address the unsustainablility of the nation's longterm liabilities is nothing short of inexcusable. It's past time for Washington to get its act together," he continued, chastising leaders in the nation's capital.

"And that will take two things: bipartisanship and leadership, and unfortunately, both seem missing in Washington today."

He acknowledged that his state had more it could do "to improve our fiscal health even more," and did not note his state's unemployment rate, which stands above the national average.

Christie urged lawmakers to not to "play the old partisan games [or] block progress in search of a better headline."

"We know that doesn't work either. Just look at the results in Washington," he said. "Is that what we want in New Jersey?"

In the address, Christie announced he would support an expansion of Medicaid under President Barack Obama's health care law, becoming the eighth Republican governor to do so. He expressed his opposition to the law but noted that if he did not accept the federal funding for the program, the funds would be spent elsewhere.

Speaking to state lawmakers, he cited an example of "putting the people we serve first" in the state's response to Superstorm Sandy, which devastated parts of New Jersey when she made landfall in late October.

"I want to thank the members of this legislature and our congressional delegation -- both sides of the aisle -- for the $60.4 billion emergency relief package which Congress enacted last month," he said. "I expect to go to the Jersey Shore every summer for the rest of my life, including the summer of 2013."

-- CNN's Gregory Wallace and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report