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The Republican House speaker Mike Johnson charged Democrats of being “not serious” during talks aimed at resolving the federal government shutdown, entering its fifth day with projections indicating it will continue into next week or longer.

Talks between the opposing political parties stalled over the weekend, with no votes anticipated to end the standoff. A recent poll revealed just 28% of Democratic voters and 23% of Republicans believe their party’s stance worth shutting down the government.

During an interview with a national television show, Johnson stated the House fulfilled its duties by passing a measure for government funding and now the responsibility lies with the Senate “to restart government operations so that everyone can do their work”. He charged the opposition of failing to engage “in a serious negotiation”.

“They’re doing this for political protection because the Democratic leader fears losing his upcoming election in the Senate facing a challenge from a left-wing contender in New York, as this is becoming trendy out there,” he said, mentioning the Bronx representative potentially challenging the Senate leader for his seat in the coming election.

But Johnson’s counterpart, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, responded on the same show that a Republican senator made false statements recently by asserting that Democrats weren’t truthful regarding their goals related to medical coverage for undocumented immigrants.

“Republicans are lying because they’re losing in public support,” Jeffries stated, and added his party was “advocating for the healthcare of hard-working American taxpayers, of working-class Americans, of middle-class Americans”.

The minority leader also addressed to remarks from the ex-president in a social media post labeling the Democratic party as malicious and destructive alongside pictures of party figures, such as progressive representatives, the Senate leader, the former speaker, and the ex-president and his wife.

Questioned about continuing talks with the former president, Jeffries said the ex-president’s conduct “is shocking, it’s irrational, it’s unjustifiable, and it speaks for itself. The American people deserve better than lies, hostilities, manipulated media and the president spending excessive time on the golf course.”

Top political figures have not had formal talks in nearly a week as both seek to secure political advantage before resuming negotiations.

Jeffries stated following their last discussion earlier this week, “GOP leaders, including the former president, have gone radio silent while Democratic leaders “will continue to make clear, both the Senate leader and I, that we will sit down any time, any place, with anyone to resolve this matter with the earnestness that it deserves”.

The battle for high political ground persisted through Sunday with Johnson claiming that the possibility of temporary federal employee furloughs, called furloughs, evolving into permanent dismissals “is a regrettable situation the administration wishes to avoid”.

A senior administration economic official ramped up pressure against Democrats, saying the administration will start mass layoffs among government employees should the leader determine discussions with the opposition have “completely stalled”.

The official stated on a Sunday talk show that the president and budget director “are lining things up and ready to take action if they have to, but hoping that they don’t”. But he predicted it is possible that Democrats could back down.

“I think that everybody is still hopeful that when we get a fresh start early this week, that we can get Democrats to recognize that it’s logical to prevent job losses like that,” the official commented.

However, concerns exist Democrats have walked into a trap. The speaker stated Sunday that the administration had asked the Democratic leadership to maintain government operations.

“In a situation like this, where the Senate Democrats choosing to hand the keys to the kingdom over to the White House, they have to make difficult choices,” he explained, referencing the budget director.

The management official, Johnson said, “must now examine the entire government, recognizing that the funding streams are discontinued and determine what are essential programs, operations, and personnel. This isn’t a task he enjoys. But he’s being required to do it by the Democratic leader.”

The cycle of blame persisted as the Senate leader telling a news network that Johnson avoids discussing the real issue, the medical care crisis facing the American people. Therefore he creates all these fake lies to distract the public.”

But in an interview set to broadcast on Monday, Johnson told a different network he considers the problem of ending health subsidies – that Democrats place central in their bargaining stance – as something resolvable later.

“We have effectively three months to negotiate with the administration and in Congress, that’s like an eternity,” Johnson said. “We require participants acting sincerely to negotiate together and hold those talks. And we can’t do it during a government closure,” he continued.

A prominent Democratic senator also speaking to a Sunday show was asked if his party delegates in the Senate would stay united following three Democrats defected to support GOP measures. The senator said expressing confidence that all party members recognize that millions and millions of their constituents are about to be priced out to medical care”.

“We require a leader who can act like an adult, who will negotiate and negotiate an end to their self-imposed healthcare crisis,” he stated. “Right now we don’t see that. We observe the ex-leader golfing frequently, we see the speaker telling his House colleagues to skip legislative sessions, that there’s no work for the federal government to do.”