🔗 Share this article

The Republican House speaker Mike Johnson charged Democrats of being “not serious” during talks aimed at resolving the federal government shutdown, now on its fifth day and expected to last through next week or beyond.

Negotiations among the opposing political parties hit a standstill during the weekend, with no votes anticipated to resolve the impasse. A recent poll revealed just 28% of Democratic voters along with 23% of GOP supporters consider their party’s positions justifies a government shutdown.

In his comments with a national television show, Johnson stated his chamber fulfilled its duties by passing a measure for government funding but now it was up to the Senate “to turn the lights back on so that everyone can do their work”. He accused Democrats with not participating “in a serious negotiation”.

“This strategy for political protection because the Senate leader fears losing his upcoming election for Senate reelection facing a challenge by a progressive candidate from New York, as this is becoming trendy out there,” he remarked, referring to a New York congresswoman potentially challenging the Senate leader for the Senate position in the coming election.

However, the minority leader, the opposition leader, told the same program that a Republican senator lied last week when he claimed that Democrats weren’t truthful about their intentions concerning healthcare benefits for undocumented immigrants.

“Republicans are lying because they’re losing in public support,” Jeffries stated, noting that Democrats are “standing up for medical care of hard-working American taxpayers, of working-class Americans, of middle-class Americans”.

Jeffries also responded to comments by the former president on a social platform labeling Democrats the party as malicious and destructive alongside pictures of prominent Democrats, such as progressive representatives, the Democratic Senate leader, the former speaker, and the ex-president and his wife.

When asked if he could still negotiate with the former president, Jeffries responded the ex-president’s conduct “is shocking, it’s unhinged, it’s unreasonable, and is self-explanatory. The American people merit more than falsehoods, hostilities, manipulated media and a leader devoting all of his time on the golf course.”

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

Jeffries stated following their last discussion earlier this week, “Republicans, 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 address this issue with the earnestness that it deserves”.

The battle for high political ground persisted through Sunday with Johnson claiming that the potential 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 increased pressure on Democrats, stating the White House may initiate widespread job cuts of federal workers 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 lining things up and ready to take action if they have to, but hoping to avoid it”. However, he suggested it is possible that Democrats could back down.

“I think that everybody is still hopeful that with a fresh start early this week, that we can get the Democrats to see that it’s just common sense to avoid layoffs like that,” the adviser said.

But some fear that Democrats fell into a trap. The speaker stated Sunday that the administration had asked the Democratic leadership to maintain government operations.

“Under these circumstances, with Senate Democrats have decided to turn government control over to the White House, they have to make tough decisions,” he said, pointing to the budget director.

The management official, Johnson said, “must now examine all of the federal government, recognizing that funding sources have been turned off and decide what are essential programs, operations, and staff. This isn’t a task that he relishes. But he’s compelled to do it by the Senate leader.”

The spirit of mutual recrimination continued with the Democratic leader telling a news network that Johnson avoids discussing the real issue, the medical care crisis affecting citizens. Therefore he creates false narratives to try and divert attention.”

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

“We essentially have a quarter-year for discussions in the White House and in the hall of Congress, that’s ample time,” Johnson said. “We need folks acting sincerely to negotiate together and hold those talks. This cannot happen during a government closure,” he continued.

A prominent Democratic senator also speaking to a Sunday show was asked whether his party members in the Senate would stay united following three Democrats broke away to vote with Republicans. The senator said he was confident that all party members recognize that countless 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. “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 government employees.”