After 26 grueling days of a government shutdown, the largest federal workers’ union is stepping into the ring with a demand to end the chaos.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), representing 820,000 federal and D.C. workers, is calling on Congress to pass a short-term funding fix to stop the shutdown that’s left countless public servants high and dry without paychecks, as NBC News reports.
This mess started nearly a month ago, and there’s no sign of a truce between Senate Democrats, who are holding out for extensions on Affordable Care Act subsidies, and Republicans, who refuse to budge.
Let’s break it down: the AFGE wants a clean continuing resolution, a no-frills spending measure, to get the government back up and running.
Meanwhile, Democrats in the Senate are playing hardball, refusing to vote on reopening the government unless Republicans guarantee those health care subsidies, which, if they lapse, will jack up premiums for many on Obamacare markets.
That’s a tough pill to swallow for everyday Americans already squeezed by inflation, but is it worth keeping federal workers in limbo over a policy standoff?
The AFGE isn’t just sitting on its hands -- the union is also suing the Trump administration over mass layoffs orchestrated by budget chief Russell Vought, and it is taking on the Education Department for allegedly using partisan out-of-office emails blaming Democrats for the shutdown without workers’ consent.
That’s the kind of overreach that makes you wonder who’s really looking out for the little guy in Washington. Still, the union’s push for back pay for both furloughed workers and those clocking in without a dime is a stand worth applauding.
On the legislative front, a House-passed resolution to fund the government until late November has flopped 12 times in the Senate, unable to muster the 60 votes needed despite support from three senators who caucus with Democrats -- John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, and Angus King of Maine.
Five more Senate votes are still needed to break the logjam, but don’t hold your breath -- there are no active negotiations between the two parties to resolve this fiasco.
President Donald Trump has dug in, saying he won’t even sit down with Democrats until they vote to reopen the government, leaving federal workers caught in a political crossfire.
“Both political parties have made their point, and still there is no clear end in sight,” said Everett Kelley, AFGE President. Well, isn’t that the understatement of the year -- while politicians posture, real people are lining up at food banks.
“It’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today. No half measures, and no gamesmanship,” Kelley added. If only Congress could hear that urgency over the sound of their own bickering, we might actually get somewhere.
As the shutdown nears the one-month mark, the AFGE remains flexible, willing to back either the House resolution or a longer-term funding deal if it means getting their members paid.
It’s a reasonable stance in a sea of unreasonable politicking, and it’s high time both sides took note before more damage is done to the trust of the American people.
