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Government closures are a repeat element of US politics – but the current situation appears particularly intractable because of shifting political forces and bad blood among both major parties.

Some government services face a temporary halt, and about 750,000 people are expected to be put on unpaid leave since both political parties can't agree on a spending bill.

Votes aimed at ending the deadlock have repeatedly failed, with little visibility on an off-ramp in this instance because both parties – as well as the President – perceive advantages in digging in.

Here are the four ways in which things feel different currently.

First, For Democrats, the focus is on Trump – not just healthcare

The Democratic base has been demanding for months that their party adopt stronger opposition against the current presidency. Currently Democratic leaders has a chance to demonstrate they have listened.

In March, Senate leader was fiercely criticised after supporting GOP budget legislation and averting a government closure in the spring. This time he's digging in.

This is a chance for the Democratic party to show their ability to reclaim certain authority from an administration that has moved aggressively on its agenda.

Refusing to back the GOP budget proposal carries electoral dangers as citizens generally will grow frustrated as the dispute drags on and impacts accumulate.

The Democrats are using the budget standoff to put a spotlight on ending healthcare financial support together with GOP-backed government healthcare cuts for the poor, both facing public opposition.

They are also trying to restrict the President's use of his executive powers to cancel or delay funding approved by Congress, a practice demonstrated with foreign aid and other programmes.

Second, For Republicans, they see potential

The administration leader and one of his key officials have made little secret their perspective that they smell a chance to make more of the cutbacks to the federal workforce that have featured in the Republican's second presidency so far.

The nation's leader personally said last week that the shutdown provided him with a "unique chance", and that he would look to reduce funding for "opposition-supported departments".

Administration officials said it would be left with a "challenging responsibility" involving significant workforce reductions to keep essential government services operating should the impasse persist. An administration spokesperson said this was just "fiscal sanity".

The extent of possible job cuts is still uncertain, though administration officials has been in discussions with federal budget authorities, or OMB, under the leadership of the administration's budget director.

The budget director has already announced the suspension of federal funding for regions governed by the opposition party, including New York City and Illinois' largest city.

Third, Trust Is Lacking between both parties

Whereas past government closures have been characterised by extended negotiations between the two parties aimed at restoring federal operations, there appears to be minimal cooperative willingness for compromise presently.

Conversely, animosity prevails. Political tensions continued over the weekend, as both sides exchanging accusations for causing the impasse.

The legislative leader from the majority party, charged opposition members with insufficient commitment toward resolution, and maintaining positions over a deal "for electoral protection".

Meanwhile, the opposition's chief levelled the same accusation against their counterparts, stating how a majority party commitment regarding health funding talks once the government reopens cannot be trusted.

The President himself has escalated tensions through sharing a controversial AI-generated image of the Senate leader along with another senior in the House, in which the legislator is depicted with traditional headwear and facial hair.

The representative with party colleagues denounced this as discriminatory, which was denied by the Vice-President.

Fourth, The American Economy is fragile

Analysts expect about 40% of government employees – over 800,000 workers – to face furlough due to the government closure.

That will depress spending – and also have wider ramifications, including halted environmental approvals, delayed intellectual property processing, payments to contractors along with various forms of federal operations connected to commercial interests cease functioning.

A shutdown also injects new uncertainty within economic systems currently experiencing disruption by changes ranging from trade measures, previous budget reductions, enforcement actions and artificial intelligence.

Analysts estimate potential reduction of as much as 0.2 percentage points from national economic expansion weekly during the closure.

However, economic activity generally rebounds the majority of interrupted operations after a shutdown ends, as it would after disruption after major environmental events.

This might explain partially why financial markets have shown limited reaction to the ongoing impasse.

On the other hand, analysts say that if the President carries out proposed significant workforce reductions, economic harm might become extended in duration.