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Shutdowns have become a recurring element in American political life – however the current situation appears particularly intractable because of political dynamics along with bad blood between both major parties.

Some government services face a temporary halt, and about 750,000 people likely to be placed on furlough without pay since Republicans and Democrats can't agree on a spending bill.

Legislative attempts to resolve the impasse have repeatedly failed, with little visibility on a clear resolution path this time as each side – including the nation's leader – can see some merit in digging in.

These are the four ways in which this shutdown distinct currently.

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

Democratic supporters has been demanding for months that their party more forcefully fights the current presidency. Well now Democratic leaders have an opportunity to show their responsiveness.

Earlier this year, the Senate's top Democrat was fiercely criticised after supporting GOP budget legislation and averting a shutdown early this year. This time he's holding firm.

This is a chance for the Democratic party to demonstrate they can take back some control 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 consequences begin to mount.

The Democrats are using the budget standoff to put a spotlight on ending healthcare financial support and GOP-backed federal health program reductions affecting low-income populations, both facing public opposition.

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

2. For Republicans, it's an opportunity

The administration leader along with a senior aide have openly indicated their perspective that they perceive an opening to make more of reductions to the federal workforce that have featured in the Republican's second presidency so far.

The President himself stated recently that the shutdown provided him with an "unprecedented opportunity", adding he intended to cut "Democrat agencies".

The White House said it would be left with a "challenging responsibility" of mass lay-offs to keep essential government services operating should the impasse persist. An administration spokesperson described this as "budgetary responsibility".

The extent of possible job cuts is still uncertain, though administration officials have been consulting with federal budget authorities, the budgeting office, under the leadership of the administration's budget director.

The administration's financial chief has previously declared the halting of government financial support for Democratic-run parts the opposition party, including New York City and Chicago.

3. There's little trust between both parties

Whereas past government closures typically involved extended negotiations between the two parties in an effort to get government services running again, there appears to be little of the same spirit for compromise presently.

Conversely, there is rancour. The bad blood persisted recently, with Republicans and Democrats blaming each other for causing the impasse.

The legislative leader a Republican, accused Democrats of not being serious toward resolution, and maintaining positions over a deal "to get political cover".

Meanwhile, the opposition's chief levelled the same accusation at the other side, saying that a majority party commitment to discuss healthcare subsidies after operations resume cannot be trusted.

The President himself has escalated tensions through sharing a computer-created controversial depiction featuring the opposition leader along with another senior in the House, where the representative appears wearing a large Mexican-style sombrero and facial hair.

The representative and other Democrats denounced this as discriminatory, which was denied by the Vice-President.

4. The US economy is fragile

Analysts expect about 40% of government employees – over 800,000 workers – to face furlough as a result of the government closure.

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 tied to business comes to a halt.

A shutdown also injects new uncertainty within economic systems already being roiled from multiple factors including trade measures, earlier cuts to government spending, immigration raids and technological advancements.

Analysts estimate that it could shave as much as 0.2 percentage points from national economic expansion for each week it lasts.

However, economic activity generally rebounds the majority of interrupted operations following resolution, similar to recovery patterns caused by a natural disaster.

This might explain partially why financial markets has appeared largely unfazed to the ongoing impasse.

On the other hand, analysts say that if the President carries out proposed significant workforce reductions, the damage could be extended in duration.