(Yahoo! Finance) - The government shutdown entered its 16th day Thursday with no end in sight, tying it for the fourth-longest federal work stoppage in US history.
The shutdown — the first since President Trump's first term in office — began on Oct. 1 after funding bills from Republicans and Democrats failed to reach the necessary number of votes. Both sides have remained dug in their positions ever since.
As of Thursday, there have been nine votes in the Senate, all of which have failed to reach the key 60-vote threshold.
Meanwhile, one of the Trump administration's key tools to put immediate pressure on Democrats has been at least temporarily removed, as a ruling from U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California put a pause Trump’s plans to use the shutdown to permanently fire thousands of federal employees.
It was the latest development to delay the sharpest political and economic shutdown pain even as Trump has continually threatened cuts for "Democrat programs."
At the heart of the impasse is a fight over healthcare subsidies. Democrats want to continue funding $1 trillion in Affordable Care Act subsidies, which lower healthcare costs for Americans covered under those plans. Some Republicans want to let them expire but others have signaled it could be an area for eventual talks.
Although the stock market has largely shrugged off the shutdown, economists warn that the longer the stoppage lasts, the greater the potential for economic damage. One estimate from EY Parthenon chief economist Gregory Daco anticipates that each week the government remains shuttered translates to a 0.1 percentage point hit to fourth quarter gross domestic product (GDP).
The shutdown has already begun to affect various sectors, from farming to housing. The White House also started laying off thousands of US government workers last week as part of the Trump administration's wider government downsizing efforts.
For now, the greatest challenge for markets has arguably been the vacuum of government data, such as the delayed monthly jobs report, which has deprived investors and Federal Reserve policymakers of key data about the economy.
But that has removed some of the immediate urgency leading some observers and lawmakers to begin looking to November — some are even beginning to worry about potential Thanksgiving airport delays — for when the impasse might eventually end.
