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Government closures have become a recurring feature of US politics – however this one feels particularly intractable because of political dynamics and bad blood between the two parties.

Certain federal operations are temporarily suspended, with approximately 750,000 employees are expected to be put on furlough without pay as both political parties remain unable to reach consensus on a spending bill.

Legislative attempts to resolve the deadlock continue to fall short, and it is hard to see an off-ramp this time as both parties – including the President – perceive advantages in digging in.

These are the four ways in which things feel different in 2025.

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

The Democratic base has been demanding over recent periods for their representatives adopt stronger opposition against the current presidency. Well now Democratic leaders has a chance to show they have listened.

Earlier this year, Senate leader was fiercely criticised after supporting a Republican spending bill thus preventing a shutdown early this year. Now he's digging in.

This presents an opportunity for the Democratic party to demonstrate their ability to reclaim certain authority from a presidency that has moved aggressively with determined action.

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

Democratic representatives are using the budget standoff to highlight concerns about expiring health insurance subsidies together with Republican-approved federal health program reductions for the poor, which are both unpopular.

They are also trying to curtail the President's use of presidential authority to cancel or delay funding authorized legislatively, which he has done with foreign aid and various federal programs.

Second, For Republicans, it's an opportunity

The President along with a senior aide have made little secret of the fact that they perceive an opening to make more of reductions to the federal workforce implemented during in the Republican's second presidency to date.

The President himself said last week that the shutdown provided him with an "unprecedented opportunity", and that he would look to reduce funding for "opposition-supported departments".

Administration officials stated they would face the "unenviable task" of mass lay-offs to maintain critical federal operations if the shutdown continued. An administration spokesperson said this was just "fiscal sanity".

The scope of the potential lay-offs is still uncertain, though administration officials have been consulting with federal budget authorities, the budgeting office, under the leadership of the key official.

The budget director has previously declared the halting of government financial support for regions governed by the opposition party, including New York City and Chicago.

3. There's little trust on either side

While previous shutdowns have been characterised by late-night talks between the two parties in an effort to get federal operations, currently there seems little of the same spirit for compromise presently.

Instead, 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, accused Democrats with insufficient commitment about negotiating, and holding out during discussions "for electoral protection".

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 through sharing a computer-created controversial depiction of the Senate leader and the top Democrat opposition figure, in which the legislator appears wearing traditional headwear and facial hair.

The representative and other Democrats called this racist, which was denied by the Vice-President.

4. The US economy is fragile

Analysts expect approximately two-fifths of government employees – more than 800,000 people – to face furlough as a result of the government closure.

That will depress spending – and also have wider ramifications, including halted environmental approvals, delayed intellectual property processing, payments to contractors along with various forms of federal operations tied to business cease functioning.

A shutdown also injects fresh instability into an economy already being roiled by changes ranging from trade measures, earlier cuts to government spending, enforcement actions and artificial intelligence.

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

However, economic activity generally rebounds the majority of interrupted operations after a shutdown ends, as it would after disruption caused by a natural disaster.

That could be one reason why financial markets have shown limited reaction to the ongoing impasse.

Conversely, analysts say that if administration officials implement his threat of mass firings, the damage could be extended in duration.