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The Republican House speaker Mike Johnson has accused the opposing party are “not serious” during talks aimed at resolving the federal government shutdown, entering its fifth day with projections indicating it will continue through next week or beyond.

Talks between the opposing political parties stalled over the weekend, with no votes anticipated to end the standoff. Survey data revealed only 28% of Democrats 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 fulfilled its duties 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 since the Democratic leader fears losing his next re-election bid for Senate reelection because he’s going to be challenged from a left-wing contender from New York, as this is becoming trendy out there,” he remarked, mentioning the Bronx representative potentially challenging the Senate leader for his seat in the coming election.

But Johnson’s counterpart, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, told the same program that a Republican senator lied last week by asserting Democrats were being dishonest about their intentions concerning healthcare benefits for undocumented immigrants.

“Republicans are lying since they’re trailing in public support,” Jeffries stated, and added his party was “standing up for the healthcare for American workers, of working-class Americans, for the middle class”.

The minority leader also addressed to comments from the ex-president on a social platform in which he called Democrats the party of “hate, evil, and Satan” accompanied by images of prominent Democrats, such as left-leaning lawmakers, the Senate leader, the former speaker, and the former president and first lady.

When asked if he could still negotiate with the former president, Jeffries said the president’s behavior “is outrageous, it’s unhinged, it’s unreasonable, and it speaks for itself. Citizens deserve better than falsehoods, than attacks, than deepfake videos and the president spending all of his time on the golf course.”

Leaders of the political leadership have not had formal talks for almost a week while both parties attempt to secure political advantage before resuming negotiations.

The minority leader mentioned that since that meeting earlier this week, “Republicans, along with the ex-president, have gone radio silent while Democratic leaders “will continue to make clear, both the Senate leader and I, that we will sit down whenever and wherever, with anyone to address this issue with the seriousness that it deserves”.

The battle for high political ground persisted through Sunday as Johnson stated that the possibility of temporary federal employee furloughs, known as furloughs, hardening into permanent job layoffs “is a regrettable situation the administration wishes to avoid”.

A top White House economic adviser ramped up pressure against Democrats, stating the White House will start mass layoffs among government employees should the leader determine negotiations with Democrats are “absolutely going nowhere”.

The adviser told a Sunday talk show that the president and budget director “are preparing measures and getting ready to act if they have to, but hoping to avoid it”. But he predicted there’s a chance that Democrats could back down.

“I believe all parties remain optimistic that when we get a fresh start early this week, that we can get Democrats to recognize that it’s just common sense to avoid layoffs of that nature,” the adviser said.

But some fear Democrats have walked into a trap. The speaker stated Sunday that the president had asked the Democratic leadership to keep the government open.

“Under these circumstances, where the Senate Democrats have decided to turn the keys to the kingdom over to the White House, they must take difficult choices,” he said, pointing to the management official.

The management official, Johnson said, “must now examine all of the federal government, acknowledging the funding streams have been turned off and determine which programs are essential, policies, and personnel. This isn’t a task that he relishes. But he’s compelled to do it by the Democratic leader.”

The cycle of blame continued with the Senate leader stating on television Johnson “doesn’t want to discuss the actual problem, the medical care crisis affecting citizens. So he puts up all these fake lies to distract the public.”

However, during a discussion scheduled for Monday, Johnson informed a different network he views the issue of expiring healthcare subsidies – which Democrats prioritize to their negotiating position – as one that can be addressed later.

“We have effectively a quarter-year for discussions with the administration and in Congress, that’s ample time,” Johnson said. “We require participants acting sincerely to come around the table and have that discussion. And we can’t do it when the government is shut down,” he added.

A leading Senate Democrat appearing on the same news program was questioned whether his party members in the Senate would stay united following three Democrats broke away to vote with Republicans. He responded expressing confidence that “all Democrats understand that millions and millions of their voters are about to be priced out to medical care”.

“We need a president who can act like an adult, who will negotiate and negotiate an end to this manufactured healthcare emergency,” the senator said. “Currently this isn’t evident. We observe the ex-leader out on the golf course, we see the speaker instructing representatives to skip legislative sessions, claiming no duties for the federal government to do.”