Democrats are refusing to blink on ending the government shutdown despite overwhelming pressure from unions and a Nov. 1 deadline that will see SNAP benefits denied to millions of households.
The largest union of federal workers urged Congress to back a “clean” continuing resolution on Tuesday, arguing that both parties have “made their point” and it’s time to end the “avoidable crisis” affecting the federal workforce. House Republicans immediately highlighted as evidence that Democrats are inflicting pain on the nation and anticipated that it would become a pressure point on the party to vote for the bill in the Senate.
But if people were expecting Democrats to crack and end the government shutdown over federal workers urging them to vote for Republicans’ short-term spending deal, they are likely to be disappointed.
Democrats are doubling down that Republicans are the ones to blame for federal workers’ pain, arguing that backing down and voting for the GOP continuing resolution will likely come back to haunt them.
“I know what they mean, but they would not want us to vote on something and then find a whole bunch of more people getting fired next week,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) told the Washington Examiner.
“If I were to vote to reopen government and then a bunch of people get fired next week, they would come in and say, ‘What? Wait a minute. Why didn’t you protect us from this?’” he added.
Other Democrats are sympathetic to federal workers’ plight but say a larger group of people will be affected by the expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits, the crux of Democrats’ fight against the GOP CR.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) told the Washington Examiner he “understands where [federal workers] are coming from” but said Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought has made it his mission to “impose trauma” on federal workers.
“They’ve been subject to blackmail and extortion and threats,” Van Hollen said. “I will continue to vote to reopen the government without giving Donald Trump a blank check and bringing down healthcare costs.”
Rep. Julie Johnson (D-TX) told the Washington Examiner her district has very few federal workers but “100,000 people that need the ACA credits to get their healthcare.”
“So, at least from what I’m hearing at home in my district, is, ‘Stand firm, hold firm. We’d love to see the government reopen, but we want our healthcare benefits,’” Johnson said.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) told the Washington Examiner he “feels for” federal workers and he “doesn’t blame” the union for issuing a statement to protect the 800,000 federal employees it represents.
But, he said, “We still have to focus on the overall threat here, which is, you know, 24 million Americans having insurance rates, premiums double.”
“The AFGE [American Federation of Government Employees] president and their members, they have to take care of their cause, their issues — nothing wrong with that,” Gallego added. “But we’re here to take care of the overall working class person in this country who’s really going to get affected by rising insurance premiums.”
He noted that Democrats have supported stand-alone bills to fund federal workers, despite Senate Democrats blocking a bill last week to pay military servicemembers and federal employees during the shutdown because they argued it gave the White House too much authority to decide who gets paid with agencies shuttered.
Democrats attempted to bring dueling proposals to the floor that would have paid furloughed workers as well, but Republicans blocked them.
“A clean CR that does not also come with a guarantee of no firings, no rescissions, no impoundments, just status quo ante, is not really a clean CR, and it doesn’t protect them,” Kaine said. “The AFGE would want a deal to be a deal.”
On the House side, Republicans touted the AFGE’s statement as federal workers siding with the GOP on the shutdown.
“Just yesterday, the largest union of federal workers, the very people that the Democrats claim that they fight for, came out publicly and urged the Democrats to join the Republicans in passing the house’s very simple short term funding bill,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said Tuesday, noting on Monday that he “certainly” hopes the union’s memo will be a “turning point” for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
But House Democrats don’t appear to be concerned that their Senate counterparts will crack under the pressure, as they did in March, from federal workers, the latest pressure point to occur during the shutdown, alongside no paychecks for troops and a lapse in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said House and Senate Democrats continue to take the “same position” and they won’t vote for a “partisan Republican spending bill that guts healthcare of the American people.”
Jeffries added that Democrats support and will continue to support federal workers.
“Federal workers know who stands on their side. It’s us, House and Senate Democrats,” the leader said.
Rank-and-file Democrats, both those who have a large proportion of federal workers and those who have a small number in their districts, also remain confident that the Senate will “hold the line.”
Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD), who comes from a state with a high proportion of federal employees, added that he appreciates where the union is coming from but noted that the AFGE put out statements right before and at the beginning of the shutdown, so Monday’s memo is “basically the same position.”
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He said he and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) visited a food bank for federal workers on Tuesday and met with the 500 people in line.
“I went around the block, and that’s what they were saying was, you know, ‘Keep fighting this fight,’” Ivey said.
