The first shutdown in seven years took place in the USA. What the media is writing

In the USA, there was a shutdown — the shutdown of the federal government due to the lack of an agreement on financing. The Democratic senators refused to make a deal with the Republicans, demanding that their conditions be fulfilled. About 750,000 employees may go on unpaid leave, and each day of the shutdown will cost the budget $400 million in the future. What the world's media write about the American crisis is in the Izvestia digest.

Axios: The US federal government has stopped working

The federal government shut down for the first time since 2019 after the Senate failed to pass a government funding bill before the deadline on September 30. The leaders of the Democrats and Republicans have not come close to a compromise, so the path to reopening the government is unclear.

The Democrats faced tremendous pressure from their constituents to not vote and force the government to shut down. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer proposed the idea of temporary funding for 7-10 days at an internal party meeting, but he faced immediate criticism from the left. The Democratic leaders are unlikely to like anything other than concrete concessions from Trump and the Republicans. The main demand of the Democrats is an extension of the tax benefits under the Affordable Care Act.

Associated Press: What happens during the shutdown

Now that the funding has stopped, the law obliges departments to send their employees on unpaid leave, with the exception of the most necessary ones. The exception is those who are engaged in the protection of life and property, they remain at work, but will receive a salary only after the end of the suspension period of the congress. The White House Office of Administration and Budget begins the process by instructing federal agencies and services. They were informed that there had been an outage in allocations, and they should begin orderly work stoppage measures. This memo was sent out on Tuesday evening.

FBI investigators, CIA officers, air traffic controllers and agents on duty at airport checkpoints continue their work. Military personnel also continue to work. Each federal agency develops its own work stoppage plan. It indicates which employees will remain at work during the work stoppage, and which will be sent on unpaid leave. Thus, the Ministry of Health and Human Services will send about 41% of its staff out of almost 80,000 employees on unpaid leave. At the same time, research and treatment of patients at the National Institutes of Health will be paralyzed.

Reuters: stocks are falling, and gold is getting more expensive amid the shutdown

Futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq exchanges fell 0.5%. Gold prices rose to $3,875 per ounce, reaching an all-time high for the third consecutive session. European futures remained virtually unchanged. In the absence of Friday's non-agricultural employment report, investors can focus more on the national employment report, which will be published on October 1. The forecasts are based on a modest gain of 50,000 jobs in the private sector.

In the foreign exchange markets, the dollar index has been declining for the fourth day in a row and last time decreased by 0.2% to 97.62. Oil prices rose after two consecutive days of declines as investors weighed OPEC+'s potential plans to increase production more significantly next month against the prospect of a reduction in U.S. inventories.

The New York Times: Democrats won't capitulate, and Republicans won't make a deal

The last time Democrats in the Senate were responsible for shutting down the government, they quickly gave up and rushed to reopen federal agencies in 2018, as their more moderate members demanded a quick solution to the problem after just three days. This shutdown may be different. The ideological composition of the party has shifted to the left, and the Democrats are now preparing for a prolonged confrontation with the White House and Republicans in Congress, despite the obvious political risks. The same dynamic is observed in the Republican Party, which has shifted to the right and no longer sees an opportunity for compromise.

Anticipating the prospect of a political backlash to the closure of federal agencies, the Democrats seemed resigned to the upcoming battle for information support, which they could well lose or, at best, reduce to a draw. However, agreeing to keep the government working without getting anything in return seemed unacceptable to most of them. Democrats have privately stated that capitulation would deprive them of any leverage in the upcoming major battles if they walked away with nothing.

Close all: The United States is preparing for a government shutdown on October 1

Plans to reduce staff are already being prepared

The Washington Post: A prolonged shutdown may be inevitable

One of the reasons why politicians have no incentive to create a special group of people to solve the problem of the shutdown is that very few senators feel the political pressure that usually arises in the event of such catastrophic events. Most of them hold reliable positions, and many of them are not yet confident of their readiness for re-election. In the run-up to the 2026 midterm elections, only three senators face a very difficult re-election battle.

The House of Representatives has sometimes played a role in reopening the government after a shutdown, but Democrats believe that any resolution to this standoff should come from the Senate. Republicans can pass laws in the House of Representatives without any support from Democrats, but this is not possible in the Senate. Speaker Mike Johnson has still not called the House of Representatives into session after it passed a Republican-drafted funding plan.