(Washington) A Biden administration official warned Monday that a federal government shutdown, or “shutdown,” would wreak havoc on the U.S. economy if Republicans and Democrats in Congress do not agree on the government budget, object of a political battle.

“We haven’t seen a shutdown in a while. I hope we don’t have one now, because one of the things that encourages all of us is the fact that the U.S. economy is doing much better than many people expected,” said the assistant secretary of state. Treasure, Wally Adeyemo, speaking at the Economic Club of New York.

The “shutdown” differs from the default, which threatened the American economy in the spring, and was linked to the debt ceiling, which Congress had to raise.

The expenditures frozen in the event of a “shutdown” are less wide than in the event of default, details a note from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a bipartisan organization.

In the event of a “shutdown”, for example, civil servants would not be paid temporarily, certain health systems could be affected, as well as air transport, with air traffic controllers then not receiving a salary.

The last paralysis of the federal administration dates back to 2018. Around 850,000 civil servants were placed on partial unemployment, according to the committee.

“The last thing we need is the difficulties of a shutdown,” Adeyemo warned.

The next budgetary year begins on October 1, but elected representatives of Congress, who must vote on funding, have not reached any agreement at this stage.

The ball is, he stressed, in the camp of the elected Republicans in the House of Representatives.

“The Democrats in the Senate (and) the House and the Republicans in the Senate all agree on the need to honor the terms of the agreement that we just reached this summer,” he said.

This agreement, which had made it possible to avoid payment default, suspends the public debt ceiling of the United States until January 2025, and sets budgetary objectives, including in particular a limitation of spending.

“Our goal is really to try to get to a point where Congress agrees to continue funding the government, because the last thing we need is headlines about the government shutdown,” he said. hammered Wally Adeyemo.