What Makes This American Government Shutdown Distinct (and More Intractable)?

Government closures are a repeat element of US politics – but this one feels particularly intractable due to shifting political forces along with deep-seated animosity among both major parties.

Some government services are temporarily suspended, and about 750,000 people are expected to be put on furlough without pay since both political parties remain unable to reach consensus regarding budget legislation.

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

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

First, For Democrats, the focus is on Trump – beyond healthcare issues

Democratic supporters has been demanding for months that their party more forcefully fights the Trump administration. Well now Democratic leaders has a chance to show their responsiveness.

In March, Senate leader faced strong criticism after supporting a Republican spending bill and averting a government closure early this year. Now he's holding firm.

This presents an opportunity for the Democratic party to demonstrate they can take back certain authority from a presidency that has moved aggressively on its agenda.

Refusing to back the GOP budget proposal carries electoral dangers as citizens generally may become impatient with prolonged negotiations and consequences begin to mount.

The Democrats are leveraging the shutdown fight to put a spotlight on expiring health insurance subsidies and Republican-approved federal health program reductions for the poor, both facing public opposition.

Additionally, they're attempting to restrict the President's use of presidential authority to rescind or withhold money authorized legislatively, which he has done in international assistance and other programmes.

Second, For Republicans, it's an opportunity

The administration leader and one of his key officials have openly indicated their perspective that they smell a chance to advance further reductions to the federal workforce implemented during the current presidential term to date.

The nation's leader personally stated recently that the government closure provided him with an "unprecedented opportunity", adding he intended to cut "Democrat agencies".

The White House stated they would face the "unenviable task" involving significant workforce reductions to maintain critical federal operations should the impasse persist. An administration spokesperson said this was just "budgetary responsibility".

The scope of the potential lay-offs remains unclear, but the White House have been consulting with federal budget authorities, the budgeting office, under the leadership of the key official.

The administration's financial chief has already announced the halting of government financial support for Democratic-run parts the opposition party, including New York City and Illinois' largest city.

3. There's little trust on either side

Whereas past government closures have been characterised by late-night talks among political opponents in an effort to get government services running again, currently there seems minimal cooperative willingness of collaboration this time.

Instead, animosity prevails. The bad blood continued over the weekend, with Republicans and Democrats blaming each other for causing the impasse.

House Speaker from the majority party, charged opposition members with insufficient commitment about negotiating, and holding out over a deal "for electoral protection".

Meanwhile, the Senate leader levelled the same accusation at the other side, saying that a Republican promise regarding health funding talks after operations resume cannot be trusted.

The administration leader personally has inflamed the situation through sharing a controversial AI-generated image of the Senate leader and the top Democrat opposition figure, in which the representative is depicted with traditional headwear and facial hair.

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

4. The US economy faces vulnerability

Analysts expect approximately two-fifths of the federal workforce – more than 800,000 people – to face furlough as a result of the shutdown.

That will depress spending – with broader economic consequences, including halted environmental approvals, delayed intellectual property processing, interrupted vendor payments and other kinds of federal operations tied to business comes to a halt.

A shutdown also injects fresh instability into an economy currently experiencing disruption from multiple factors including trade measures, earlier cuts to government spending, enforcement actions and technological advancements.

Analysts estimate that it could shave as much as 0.2 percentage points from national economic expansion weekly during the closure.

But the economy typically recoups most of that lost activity after a shutdown ends, as it would after disruption caused by a natural disaster.

This might explain partially why financial markets have shown limited reaction by the current stand-off.

On the other hand, analysts say should administration officials implement proposed significant workforce reductions, economic harm might become more long-lasting.