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GOP legislative leader the House leader asserted that Democrats are “not serious” in negotiations to end the ongoing government closure, entering its fifth day with projections indicating it will continue into next week or longer.

Negotiations among the two major parties hit a standstill during the weekend, with no votes anticipated to end the standoff. A recent poll found just 28% of Democratic voters along with 23% of GOP supporters consider their party’s positions justifies a government shutdown.

In his comments on a major news program, the speaker claimed the House had done its work by passing a measure to keep the government financed and now the responsibility lies with the Senate “to restart government operations enabling federal employees to resume work”. He accused Democrats with not participating “in meaningful discussions”.

“This strategy for political protection because the Democratic leader is afraid losing his upcoming election in the Senate facing a challenge from a left-wing contender in New York, as this is becoming trendy in politics,” he said, referring to a New York congresswoman who may be looking to challenge the Senate leader for his seat in the coming election.

However, the minority leader, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, responded on the same show that a GOP legislator lied last week by asserting that Democrats weren’t truthful regarding their goals related to medical coverage for undocumented immigrants.

“GOP members are deceitful since they’re trailing in public support,” Jeffries said, noting that Democrats are “standing up for the healthcare of hard-working American taxpayers, for labor-class citizens, of middle-class Americans”.

Jeffries also responded to remarks by the former president in a social media post in which he called Democrats the party of “hate, evil, and Satan” accompanied by images of party figures, such as left-leaning lawmakers, the Senate leader, the previous House speaker, and the former president and first lady.

When asked about continuing talks with the former president, Jeffries said the ex-president’s conduct “is shocking, it’s irrational, it’s unreasonable, and it speaks for itself. Citizens deserve better than lies, hostilities, than deepfake videos and the president spending all of his time to golfing.”

Leaders of the political leadership haven’t engaged in official discussions for almost a week as both seek to gain a political edge ahead of renewed discussions.

Jeffries stated that since that meeting last Monday, “Republicans, along with the ex-president, have ceased communication and the Democratic party leadership “will keep emphasizing, the Senate leader and myself, that we will sit down any time, any place, with anyone to address this issue with the earnestness it requires”.

The struggle for political advantage continued on Sunday with Johnson claiming that the possibility of temporary federal employee furloughs, called furloughs, evolving into permanent dismissals “is an unfortunate circumstance that the president does not want”.

A senior administration economic official increased pressure on Democrats, saying the administration will start mass layoffs of federal workers should the leader determine negotiations with Democrats are “absolutely going nowhere”.

The adviser told a national news program that the administration “are lining things up and ready to take action if they have to, but hoping that they don’t”. However, he suggested there’s a chance that Democrats could back down.

“I believe all parties is still hopeful that when we get a new beginning at the beginning of the week, we can persuade Democrats to recognize that it’s just common sense to avoid layoffs of that nature,” the official commented.

But some fear Democrats have walked into a trap. The speaker stated Sunday that the administration requested Democratic leaders to keep the government open.

“In a situation like this, with Senate Democrats have decided to turn government control to the administration, they must take difficult choices,” he said, pointing to the budget director.

The budget director, Johnson said, “must now examine all of the federal government, recognizing that funding sources have been turned off and determine which programs are essential, operations, and personnel. That’s not a job he enjoys. But he’s being required to perform it by the Democratic leader.”

The cycle of blame persisted as the Democratic leader telling a news network Johnson “doesn’t want to discuss the actual problem, the medical care crisis facing the American people. So he puts up all these fake lies to distract the public.”

But in an interview scheduled for Monday, Johnson informed a different network he considers the issue of expiring healthcare subsidies – which Democrats prioritize in their bargaining stance – as something resolvable later.

“We essentially have three months to negotiate in the White House and in the hall of Congress, that’s ample time,” Johnson remarked. “We need folks in good faith to come around the table and hold those talks. This cannot happen during a government closure,” he added.

A prominent Democratic senator also speaking to the same news program was asked if his party delegates in the Senate remain unified following three Democrats broke away to vote with Republicans. The senator said he was confident that all party members recognize that millions and millions of their voters are about to be priced out to medical care”.

“We need a president who behaves maturely, 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 notice the House leader instructing representatives not to even come to session, that there’s no work for the federal government to do.”