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Shutdowns have become a recurring element of US politics – but this one feels particularly intractable due to political dynamics and bad blood among the two parties.

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

Legislative attempts to resolve the deadlock have repeatedly failed, with little visibility on a clear resolution path in this instance as both parties – as well as the nation's leader – perceive advantages in maintaining their positions.

Here are the four ways that make things feel different in 2025.

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

The Democratic base have insisted over recent periods that their party more forcefully fights the current presidency. Currently Democratic leaders has a chance to show they have listened.

Earlier this year, Senate leader faced strong criticism after supporting a Republican spending bill thus preventing a government closure in the spring. This time he's holding firm.

This presents an opportunity for the Democratic party to demonstrate they can take back some control from an administration that has moved aggressively on its agenda.

Opposing the GOP budget proposal comes with political risk as citizens generally may become impatient with prolonged negotiations and consequences begin to mount.

Democratic representatives are using 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 executive utilization of presidential authority to rescind or withhold money authorized legislatively, a practice demonstrated in international assistance and other programmes.

2. For Republicans, they see potential

The President and one of his key officials have made little secret of the fact that they smell a chance to make more of reductions in government employment implemented during in the Republican's second presidency so far.

The nation's leader personally stated recently that the government closure had afforded him a "unique chance", adding he intended to cut "Democrat agencies".

The White House stated they would face a "challenging responsibility" of mass lay-offs to maintain critical federal operations should the impasse persist. An administration spokesperson described this as "budgetary responsibility".

The scope of the potential lay-offs remains unclear, though administration officials have been consulting with the Office of Management and Budget, or OMB, which is headed by the administration's budget director.

The budget director has previously declared the suspension of federal funding for Democratic-run parts the opposition party, such as NYC and Illinois' largest city.

3. There's little trust between both parties

While previous shutdowns have been characterised by extended negotiations between the two parties in an effort to get government services running again, currently there seems minimal cooperative willingness of collaboration this time.

Conversely, there is rancour. The bad blood persisted recently, as both sides blaming each other regarding the deadlock's origin.

The legislative leader a Republican, charged opposition members of not being serious about negotiating, and holding out during discussions "to get political cover".

Simultaneously, the opposition's chief made similar charges at the other side, saying that a majority party commitment regarding health funding talks once the government reopens can not be taken seriously.

The President himself has inflamed the situation by posting a controversial AI-generated image featuring the opposition leader and the top Democrat opposition figure, where the representative appears wearing traditional headwear and a moustache.

The representative with party colleagues denounced this as discriminatory, a characterization rejected by the Vice-President.

Fourth, The American Economy is fragile

Analysts expect approximately two-fifths of government employees – more than 800,000 people – to be put on unpaid leave as a result of the shutdown.

This will reduce consumer expenditure – with broader economic consequences, as environmental permitting, delayed intellectual property processing, payments to contractors and other kinds of government activity connected to commercial interests comes to a halt.

The closure additionally introduces fresh instability within economic systems already being roiled from multiple factors including trade measures, earlier cuts to government spending, enforcement actions and artificial intelligence.

Analysts estimate that it could shave approximately 0.2% from national economic expansion weekly during the closure.

But the economy typically recoups most of that lost activity following resolution, similar to recovery patterns caused by a natural disaster.

This might explain partially why the stock market have shown limited reaction to the ongoing impasse.

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