US President Joe Biden has signed the budget package negotiated in Congress. Theoretically, the deadline for a shutdown has already passed at midnight US Eastern Time - but in practice there has been no standstill in government business.

The budget package includes, among other things, funds for defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the Ministry of Labor - but it does not include new financial aid from the USA for Ukraine. A corresponding legislative package is currently stuck in the House of Representatives. The now passed 1.2 trillion US dollar (around 1.1 trillion euros) budget package finances a large part of the US government's business.