The US Capitol in Washington, DC, on September 26, 2023. Millions of Americans braced on September 25, 2023, for pay and welfare checks to stop within days as Congress careened toward a damaging government shutdown, with Republican right wingers blocking attempts to pass a budget. Four months after barely avoiding the more serious prospect of a credit default, the world's largest economy is once again on the verge of a convulsion, with the lights due to go out at the weekend. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)