Federal Workers Union Urges End to Month-Long Schumer-Led Government Shutdown

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents about 800,000 federal workers, publicly urged the Senate to pass a “clean” continuing resolution to end the nearly four‑week government shutdown and demanded immediate reopening with full back pay. The union’s break with its usual Democratic alignment heightened pressure on Senate Democrats and undercut Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as the party continues to resist a clean funding measure pending guarantees such as extended Affordable Care Act subsidies. A Senate vote to temporarily fund the government through Nov. 21 failed to meet the 60‑vote threshold, passing only 54–45, with Sens. John Fetterman, Catherine Cortez Masto and Angus King joining Republicans to reopen the government. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees have missed paychecks (with reports of many taking temporary work or using food banks), and AFGE framed the shutdown as an “avoidable crisis” harming families and services. Republicans quickly seized on the union’s statement to press Democrats to back down, while Democrats say they will not accept mere promises and seek concrete protections for health‑care subsidies.