The U.S. government shutdown will potentially impact the country's Federal Reserve's decisions on interest rate, said John Gong, an economics professor from the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. The U.S. federal government entered a shutdown on Wednesday as partisan divisions prevented Congress from passing a funding bill, which marks the first government shutdown in nearly seven years. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be forced to take unpaid leave, with some public services potentially suspended or delayed, and the release of economic data possibly impacted as well. Gong said the government shutdown will bring less economic activities. The shutdown commenced hours after the U.S. Senate failed to pass a short-term spending bill that would have temporarily kept the government running. The continuing resolution proposed by Senate Republicans was blocked by Democrats, falling short of the 60 votes required for passage. In the latest negotiations, healthcare benefits have been one of the core sticking points between the two parties. Democrats are demanding stronger healthcare-related benefits, including an extension of the enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act set to expire at the end of the year, as well as restoring the act's coverage eligibility for certain immigrants who are legally present, including refugees and asylum seekers. Republicans, on the other hand, opposed these measures and have been pushing to temporarily maintain current government funding levels to allow more time for negotiations. Shotlist: Beijing, China - Oct 1, 2025: FILE: Washington D.C., USA - Oct 2024 1. Various of Capitol Hill, U.S. national flag; Beijing, China - Oct 1, 2025 2. SOUNDBITE (English) John Gong, economic professor, University of International Business and Economics (ending with shot 3): "This is an American political ritual these days that Democrats and Republicans are using the federal budget as a bargaining place to haggle over the political agendas. But I think this time the Republicans in the Senate are playing hardball politics, throwing away the norms and practices that have been done so far. They're not going to negotiate anything and they're just going straight ahead to the shutdown."; FILE: Washington D.C., USA - Oct 2024 3. Various of Capitol Hill; FILE: New York City, New York, USA - Oct 2024 4. U.S. national flags; FILE: USA - Date Unknown 5. U.S. dollar banknotes; Beijing, China - Oct 1, 2025 6. SOUNDBITE (English) John Gong, economic professor, University of International Business and Economics (partially overlaid with shots 7): "With the slowing activities, with the government shutting down, there will be less economic activities. I think overall, it's going to be a negative impact. It probably accelerates the Fed's determination to further drop rates moving forward."; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] FILE: USA – Date and Location Unknown 7. U.S. dollar banknotes being counted; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] FILE: Washington D.C., USA - Oct 2024 8. Various of White House; Beijing, China - Oct 1, 2025 9. SOUNDBITE (English) John Gong, economic professor, University of International Business and Economics (starting with shot 8/partially overlaid with shots 10): "I think the Republicans are in no hurry to negotiate right now. They want to start from a strong position. Essentially, that's a political hardball. The Republicans control the Senate, they control the White House, and they just need a few more votes from the Democrats."; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] FILE: New York City, USA - Oct 2024 10. Traffic lights; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] FILE: New York City, USA - Oct 2024 11. Various of traffic on road. [Restriction - No access Chinese mainland]