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Government closures have become a recurring element of US politics – however the current situation appears especially difficult to resolve because of political dynamics and bad blood among the two parties.

Some government services face a temporary halt, with approximately 750,000 people are expected to be put on unpaid leave as 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 a clear resolution path in this instance because each side – including the President – can see some merit in digging in.

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

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

Democratic supporters has been demanding for months that their party more forcefully fights the current presidency. Currently Democratic leaders has a chance to demonstrate their responsiveness.

In March, the Senate's top Democrat was fiercely criticised for helping pass GOP budget legislation and averting a government closure in the spring. Now he's holding firm.

This is a chance for the Democratic party to demonstrate their ability to reclaim certain authority from a presidency pursuing its agenda assertively on its agenda.

Opposing the GOP budget proposal comes with political risk that the wider public will grow frustrated with prolonged negotiations and impacts accumulate.

Democratic representatives are leveraging the shutdown fight to highlight concerns about ending healthcare financial support and GOP-backed government healthcare cuts affecting low-income populations, which are both unpopular.

They are also trying to curtail executive utilization of his executive powers to cancel or delay funding authorized legislatively, a practice demonstrated in international assistance and various federal programs.

2. For Republicans, they see potential

The President along with a senior aide have made little secret of the fact that they smell a chance to advance further the cutbacks to the federal workforce implemented during the current presidential term so far.

The nation's leader personally said last week that the government closure provided him with an "unprecedented opportunity", and that he would look to reduce funding for "Democrat agencies".

Administration officials said it would be left with a "challenging responsibility" involving significant workforce reductions 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, the budgeting office, under the leadership of the key official.

The budget director has previously declared the suspension of federal funding for Democratic-run parts the opposition party, including New York City and Illinois' largest city.

3. There's little trust on either side

While previous shutdowns have been characterised by extended negotiations among political opponents aimed at restoring federal operations, there appears to be minimal cooperative willingness of collaboration this time.

Instead, there is rancour. The bad blood continued over the weekend, as both sides exchanging accusations regarding the deadlock's origin.

House Speaker from the majority party, accused Democrats of not being serious about negotiating, and holding out over a deal "to get political cover".

Meanwhile, the Senate leader levelled the same accusation against their counterparts, saying that a majority party commitment to discuss healthcare subsidies after operations resume cannot be trusted.

The administration leader personally has escalated tensions through sharing a computer-created controversial depiction of the Senate leader and the top Democrat in the House, where the legislator is depicted with traditional headwear and facial hair.

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

4. The US economy faces vulnerability

Analysts expect about 40% of the federal workforce – more than 800,000 people – to be put on unpaid leave due to the government closure.

That will depress spending – and also have wider ramifications, as environmental permitting, delayed intellectual property processing, interrupted vendor payments along with various forms of federal operations connected to commercial interests comes to a halt.

A shutdown also injects fresh instability into an economy already being roiled by changes ranging from tariffs, previous budget reductions, enforcement actions and technological advancements.

Analysts estimate that it could shave as much as 0.2 percentage points off US economic growth for each week it lasts.

However, economic activity generally rebounds most of that lost activity following resolution, as it would after disruption caused by a natural disaster.

That could be one reason why financial markets have shown limited reaction by the current stand-off.

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