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Government closures have become a recurring feature in American political life – however this one feels especially difficult to resolve because of shifting political forces and deep-seated animosity between the two parties.

Some government services are temporarily suspended, with approximately 750,000 people likely to be placed on furlough without pay since Republicans and Democrats remain unable to reach consensus on a spending bill.

Legislative attempts to resolve the deadlock have repeatedly failed, and it is hard to see an off-ramp this time as each side – as well as the nation's leader – can see some merit in digging in.

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

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

Democratic supporters has been demanding over recent periods that their party more forcefully fights the current presidency. Currently the party leadership has a chance to show they have listened.

Earlier this year, Senate leader faced strong criticism after supporting GOP budget legislation thus preventing a government closure in the spring. Now he's holding firm.

This presents an opportunity for the Democratic party to demonstrate their ability to reclaim some control from an administration that has moved aggressively on its agenda.

Refusing to back the GOP budget proposal comes with political risk as citizens generally may become impatient with prolonged negotiations and impacts accumulate.

The Democrats are using the shutdown fight to put a spotlight on ending healthcare financial support and Republican-approved government healthcare cuts affecting low-income populations, which are both unpopular.

They are also trying to curtail 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.

2. For Republicans, it's an opportunity

The President along with a senior aide have made little secret their perspective that they smell a chance to make more of the cutbacks to the federal workforce that have featured the current presidential term so far.

The President himself said last week that the government closure had afforded him a "unique chance", adding he intended to reduce funding for "opposition-supported departments".

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

The scope of the potential lay-offs remains unclear, but the White House have been consulting with federal budget authorities, or OMB, under the leadership of the administration's budget director.

The administration's financial chief has previously declared the halting of government financial support for regions governed by of the country, such as NYC and Illinois' largest city.

3. There's little trust between both parties

Whereas past government closures typically involved extended negotiations among political opponents in an effort to get federal operations, currently there seems little of the same spirit of collaboration this time.

Conversely, animosity prevails. Political tensions continued over the weekend, with Republicans and Democrats blaming each other for causing the impasse.

The legislative leader from the majority party, charged opposition members of not being serious 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 Republican promise to discuss healthcare subsidies after operations resume cannot be trusted.

The President himself has escalated tensions by posting a computer-created controversial depiction of the Senate leader and the top Democrat opposition figure, in which the legislator is depicted with traditional headwear and a moustache.

The representative and other Democrats denounced this as discriminatory, which was denied by the Vice-President.

Fourth, The American Economy is fragile

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

That will depress spending – and also have wider ramifications, including halted environmental approvals, delayed intellectual property processing, interrupted vendor payments and other kinds of government activity tied to business comes to a halt.

The closure additionally introduces new uncertainty into an economy already being roiled by changes ranging from trade measures, previous budget reductions, immigration raids and artificial intelligence.

Analysts estimate potential reduction of approximately 0.2% off US economic growth weekly during the closure.

But the economy typically recoups the majority of interrupted operations following resolution, as it would after disruption after major environmental events.

That could be one reason why financial markets has appeared largely unfazed by the current stand-off.

On the other hand, experts indicate should administration officials implement proposed significant workforce reductions, the damage could be more long-lasting.