The largest union representing federal employees on Monday called on Democrats in Congress to vote in favor of a stopgap funding measure proposed by Republicans to end the ongoing government shutdown.
“It’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today,” American Federation of Public Employees President Everett Kelly wrote.
“No half-measures, no gamesmanship. Let’s get every federal employee back to work today on full pay,” said Kelly, whose union represents more than 800,000 federal and District of Columbia government employees.
“Because when the people who serve this country are standing in line at food banks without getting a second paycheck because of this government shutdown, they’re not looking for a partisan twist,” Kelly said. “They want the wages they have earned. The fact that they are being defrauded of that is a national disgrace.”
The shutdown began Oct. 1, with about 900,000 federal workers furloughed.
Senate Democrats have largely resisted voting in favor of the Clean Resolution, which would fund the government through Nov. 21, arguing that the funding measure is needed to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits.
These subsidies, which expire at the end of 2025, will lower the cost of Obamacare health insurance plans for more than 20 million Americans.
Republicans, meanwhile, argue that the fate of the ACA tax credits should only be addressed after a funding resolution is passed.
Under Senate filibuster rules, at least 60 senators must vote in favor of such a bill. Republicans hold only 53 seats in the chamber.
Although Kelly did not explicitly address the issue of ACA subsidies in his statement, he appeared to address it, writing that he would “immediately reopen the government under a clean continuing resolution that allows for continued discussion of the larger issues.”
“Both political parties are making their case, but there remains no clear outcome in sight,” Kelly wrote. “Unfortunately, Washington has experienced repeated government shutdowns.”
“But there is no ‘win’ in a government shutdown. It costs taxpayers billions of dollars, hurts small businesses, and erodes trust in government itself,” he said.
