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Shutdowns 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 among both major parties.

Certain federal operations are temporarily suspended, with approximately 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 continue to fall short, with little visibility on a clear resolution path in this instance as each side – as well as the nation's leader – perceive advantages in maintaining their positions.

Here are several key factors in which this shutdown distinct currently.

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

Democratic supporters has been demanding over recent periods that their party adopt stronger opposition against the current presidency. Well now Democratic leaders have an opportunity to demonstrate their responsiveness.

In March, Senate leader was fiercely criticised after supporting GOP budget legislation thus preventing a shutdown in the spring. This time he's holding firm.

This presents an opportunity for the Democratic party to show their ability to reclaim certain authority from a presidency pursuing its agenda assertively with determined action.

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

Democratic representatives are leveraging the budget standoff to highlight concerns about ending healthcare financial support and GOP-backed federal health program reductions for the poor, which are both unpopular.

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

Second, For Republicans, they see potential

The administration leader along with a senior aide have made little secret their perspective that they smell a chance to advance further reductions to the federal workforce that have featured the current presidential term so far.

The nation's leader personally said last week that the government closure had afforded him an "unprecedented opportunity", adding he intended to reduce funding for "Democrat agencies".

Administration officials stated they would face the "unenviable task" of mass lay-offs to keep essential government services operating if the shutdown continued. The Press Secretary said this was just "fiscal sanity".

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

The administration's financial chief has already announced the halting of government financial support for regions governed by of the country, including New York City and Chicago.

Third, Trust Is Lacking on either side

While previous shutdowns typically involved late-night talks between the two parties aimed at restoring federal operations, there appears to be minimal cooperative willingness of collaboration this time.

Instead, animosity prevails. Political tensions continued over the weekend, as both sides blaming each other for causing the impasse.

House Speaker a Republican, accused Democrats with insufficient commitment toward resolution, and holding out over a deal "for electoral protection".

Meanwhile, the opposition's chief made similar charges against their counterparts, saying that 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 along with another senior opposition figure, where the legislator appears wearing a large Mexican-style sombrero and facial hair.

The affected legislator and other Democrats denounced this as discriminatory, which was denied by the administration's second-in-command.

4. The US economy faces vulnerability

Analysts expect approximately two-fifths of government employees – over 800,000 workers – to be put on unpaid leave as a result of the government closure.

This will reduce consumer expenditure – and also have wider ramifications, including halted environmental approvals, patent approvals, payments to contractors along with various forms of federal operations tied to business cease functioning.

A shutdown also injects new uncertainty into an economy currently experiencing disruption from multiple factors including trade measures, earlier cuts to government spending, immigration raids and artificial intelligence.

Analysts estimate that it could shave as much as 0.2 percentage points off US economic growth weekly during the closure.

But the economy typically recoups most of that lost activity following resolution, as it would after disruption after major environmental events.

This might explain partially why financial markets has appeared largely unfazed by the current stand-off.

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