The US Department of Energy announced the possible termination of payments to contractors due to the shutdown

About 100,000 contractors upgrading the US nuclear arsenal may be left without pay due to the shutdown. Chris Wright, the head of the United States Department of Energy, told Bloomberg on October 16.

"We are modernizing our arsenal of nuclear weapons in the Ministry of Energy, about 100 thousand contractors are engaged in this. They are not government employees, <...> therefore they will not receive salary arrears. We've been paying them until today, but starting tomorrow, Monday at the most, we won't be able to pay these workers," Wright said.

He expressed concern that contractors might find other jobs if the shutdown dragged on. In this case, the modernization of the country's nuclear system will cease.

To bring into disarray: mass protests await the United States amid the shutdown

Millions of Americans may take to the streets, dissatisfied with the policies of the authorities and the government shutdown.

Earlier, on October 4, Wright said that due to the shutdown, the US National Nuclear Safety Administration does not have enough money to control the country's nuclear arsenal, the funds will last for about eight days. According to him, the current state of affairs in the country is absurd and ineffective.

In the United States, on October 1, the government was suspended. Because of this, non-authorized personnel of federal agencies will be forcibly sent on unpaid leave. At the same time, some will continue to perform their work duties without a salary.

On October 2, US President Donald Trump announced that during his upcoming meeting with the director of the country's Office of Administration and Budget, Russell Vaught, the possibility of reducing a number of democratic agencies against the background of the shutdown would be discussed. The next day, the US Senate rejected the Democrats' proposed funding project for the country's government, followed by a vote on the project from the Republican Party.

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