WASHINGTON — Here they go again.

As of Friday, the Treasury will no longer have the authority to issue bonds as necessary to pay the government’s bills. In a matter of weeks, the government could run out of cash and begin defaulting on some payments unless Congress acts to raise the official ceiling on the national debt. And once again, Congress is struggling to avoid a potential fiscal and economic train wreck.

But this fourth debt ceiling standoff in three years is taking place in an atmosphere of fatigue and caution rather than brazenness and conviction. A confrontational parliamentary tactic that came in with a bang might finally be exiting with a whimper.

“This is the dying gasp of a dead-end strategy,” said Representative Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat. “I think this fight is over.”

Even as some Republicans continued to hunt for one policy concession or another to demand from Democrats in exchange for lifting the ceiling, leadership has indicated it has no appetite for brinkmanship — particularly as Republicans head into a midterm campaign for control of Congress where they feel they have an upper hand, given the botched rollout of the Affordable Care Act and President Obama’s low approval ratings. And the White House has made clear that it has no intention of giving Republicans anything in exchange for increasing the limit.