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Shutdowns have become a recurring element of US politics – however this one feels particularly intractable because of political dynamics along with bad blood between the two parties.

Some government services are temporarily suspended, and about 750,000 people likely to be placed on unpaid leave since Republicans and Democrats remain unable to reach consensus on a spending bill.

Legislative attempts to resolve the impasse have repeatedly failed, and it is hard to see an off-ramp this time as each side – including the President – can see some merit in maintaining their positions.

Here are the four ways that make this shutdown distinct currently.

First, For Democrats, it's about Trump – beyond healthcare issues

Democratic supporters has been demanding over recent periods that their party more forcefully fights the Trump administration. Currently the party leadership has a chance to demonstrate their responsiveness.

In March, Senate leader faced strong criticism after supporting a Republican spending bill and averting a shutdown early this year. This time he's digging in.

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

Opposing the Republican spending plan carries electoral dangers as citizens generally may become impatient with prolonged negotiations and consequences begin to mount.

Democratic representatives are leveraging the budget standoff to highlight concerns about expiring health insurance subsidies and GOP-backed federal health program reductions affecting low-income populations, both facing public opposition.

They are also trying to curtail the President's use of presidential authority to cancel or delay funding approved by Congress, a practice demonstrated in international assistance and various federal programs.

2. For Republicans, they see potential

The President and one of his key officials have made little secret their perspective that they smell a chance to make more of reductions in government employment that have featured in the Republican's second presidency to date.

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

The White House stated they would face the "unenviable task" of mass lay-offs to keep essential government services operating if the shutdown continued. An administration spokesperson described this as "budgetary responsibility".

The extent of possible job cuts is still uncertain, but the White House has been in discussions with the Office of Management and Budget, or OMB, which is headed by the administration's budget director.

The budget director has already announced the halting of government financial support for Democratic-run parts of the country, such as NYC and Illinois' largest city.

Third, Trust Is Lacking on either side

Whereas past government closures typically involved extended negotiations between the two parties in an effort to get government services running again, there appears to be little of the same spirit of collaboration this time.

Conversely, there is rancour. 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 about negotiating, and holding out over a deal "to get political cover".

Meanwhile, the Senate leader levelled the same accusation at the other side, saying that a majority party commitment to discuss healthcare subsidies once the government reopens cannot be trusted.

The administration leader personally has escalated tensions by posting a controversial AI-generated image of the Senate leader along with another senior in the House, in which the representative appears wearing a large Mexican-style sombrero and a moustache.

The representative with party colleagues called this racist, which was denied by the administration's second-in-command.

Fourth, The American Economy faces vulnerability

Experts project approximately two-fifths of the federal workforce – over 800,000 workers – to face furlough due to the shutdown.

This will reduce consumer expenditure – and also have wider ramifications, as environmental permitting, patent approvals, interrupted vendor payments along with various forms of government activity connected to commercial interests comes to a halt.

The closure additionally introduces fresh instability within economic systems currently experiencing disruption from multiple factors including trade measures, previous budget reductions, immigration raids and technological advancements.

Economic forecasters project that it could shave as much as 0.2 percentage points from national economic expansion weekly during the closure.

But the economy typically recoups 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 administration officials implement his threat of mass firings, economic harm might become extended in duration.