(NewsNation) — The country’s largest union representing federal workers is calling on Congress to immediately pass a short-term funding bill to end the government shutdown.
In a statement on its website, the American Federation of Government Employees called the shutdown “an avoidable crisis” that is harming American families and workers across the country, and condemned both Democrats and Republicans.
“Both political parties have made their point, and there is still no clear end in sight,” said Everett Kelley, union president. “It’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today. No half measures, and no gamesmanship.”
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AFGE’s statement could likely increase pressure on politicians, especially Senate Democrats, who said they will not vote on a stopgap solution without Republicans committing to expand subsidies that come with the Affordable Care Act.
The AFGE represents over 800,000 federal and Washington, D.C., government workers. It is currently suing the Trump administration over the mass layoffs made so far during the shutdown, and for the partisan, out-of-office automatic emails from the Department of Education that blame Democrats for the shutdown, which it said was made without the workers’ permission.
“It’s time for our leaders to start focusing on how to solve problems for the American people, rather than on who is going to get the blame for a shutdown that Americans dislike,” Kelley said. “Because when the folks who serve this country are standing in line for food banks after missing a second paycheck because of this shutdown, they aren’t looking for partisan spin. They’re looking for the wages they earned.”
