Has the government shutdown caused everything to go haywire? Secretary of State John Kerry gave some credit—if backhanded—to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday for participating in the chemical disarmament mandated by the United Nations. “We’ve very pleased with the pace of what has happened with respect to chemical weapons,” Kerry said. He said he can’t speak for what will happen in the months to come, but this is a “good beginning.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has insisted that Assad is cooperating fully with the U.N. deadline to destroy Syria’s capability to produce chemical weapons.