Democrats Say Federal Workers Don’t Want Them to Cave. Their Union Says Otherwise.

Democrats’ determination to block the Republican funding bill is being put to the test by the largest federal workers’ union.

The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents over 820,000 federal workers, on Monday called on lawmakers to pass a short-term bill to end the nearly monthlong government shutdown, urging Congress to stop “punishing the people who keep our nation running.”

Though the statement did not explicitly say Democrats need to back the Republican bill, AFGE’s legislative director, Daniel Horowitz, told NOTUS that the union considers that bill, which has been blocked by Senate Democrats 12 times, “an acceptable option” — effectively taking the GOP’s position on how to get the government to reopen.

But some Democrats say that the union didn’t really mean they should vote for the continuing resolution passed by House Republicans.

Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, a state with a large number of federal workers, told reporters that the AFGE wouldn’t actually want Democrats to back Republicans.

“I work very closely with them,” Kaine said. “The AFGE would not want us to cut a deal and then have Trump fire a bunch of people next week. If we cut a deal and then he did that, they would come to us and say, ‘What the hell were you guys thinking?’”

If that’s the case, then why would the union publicly call on Democrats to support the Republican bill!? “I think it’s because they have their own internal politics,” Kaine said simply.

“But I know these folks very well, and they would not forgive us for doing a deal that would allow them to be fired next week,” Kaine added. (He told reporters that he had not talked with anyone at the AFGE since the union put out the statement).

The statement from the AFGE was issued Monday, just as the shutdown entered its fourth week. It was meant to put pressure on lawmakers to move something and get the government back open.

“The path for Congress is clear: Reopen the government immediately under a clean continuing resolution that allows continued debate on larger issues,” AFGE’s national president, Everett Kelley, wrote in a statement.

Horowitz said that even though the GOP’s bill would run for a few more weeks, until Nov. 21, it would at least break the government logjam and “pay people who’ve been working or were involuntarily furloughed,”

“If Congress can reach some other deal that reopens the government, that’s fine too,” he said. “But you know, at this point, as they seem to be at an impasse and the Republican bill is there, then we would support the Republican bill.”

“We hope this will move people to make some changes and get the government open again,” he continued.

Republicans see Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat who is retiring at the end of his term, as persuadable, though he has continued to vote against the bill.

“I don’t like shutdowns. I think we should never have a shutdown,” Peters said. “That’s why I hope Republicans would come with us and find common ground.”

But when asked whether he agreed with the AFGE’s position that the Republican CR should pass, Peters demurred: “Well, we’re still working to make sure we’re dealing with the health care issues, so I’m going to do that.”

He then repeated that he was in step with the AFGE, at least in part: “I agree, we don’t want a shutdown. We want to end the shutdown as quickly as possible, I totally agree with that.”

Throughout the shutdown, Senate Democrats had insisted they would not vote for the CR unless Republicans commit to extending Affordable Care Act subsidies. They are hoping that a Nov. 1 deadline — when open enrollment begins — will renew pressure for Republicans to deal with them to end the shutdown.

Amid the AFGE’s demands, health care costs appear to remain Democrats’ main concern.

“AFGE’s a great union. They’re there to represent their members and their members’ interests,” Sen. Ruben Gallego said. “We’re going to be able to take care of a lot of these government employees, but what we’re not going to be able to deal with is the fact that 24 million families, American families, are going to have higher insurance rates starting Jan. 1.”

Gallego told NOTUS that he did not mean the ACA subsidies were a priority over the AFGE’s call, but rather, “It’s a concurrent thing that we believe that you can do both.”

“Republicans are holding the government hostage in order for them to both cut the ACA and, by the way, go back and cut further government employees later,” he added.

Republicans are hoping that the AFGE has created a pressure point to sway Senate Democrats in their favor. Sen. Susan Collins, the chair of the Appropriations Committee, said she was “very pleased to see AFGE speak out so strongly”; Speaker Mike Johnson said the union’s announcement might make it so that Democrats “come to their senses.”

A recent AP-NORC poll found that nine in 10 adults believed that the federal shutdown was a problem. (Horowitz said that internal polling found that AFGE members “feel that shutdown should not be used as a political tool” by a seven-to-one margin).

Republicans need five more Democrats to join them in order to pass their continuing resolution. Three Democrats — Sens. John Fetterman and Catherine Cortez Masto, and Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats — have voted to advance the bill. (Sen. Rand Paul is the only Senate Republican who has voted against the CR).

Cortez Masto told reporters that federal workers “shouldn’t be used as political pawns,” adding that “Democrats and Republicans who are in control should come to the table and figure out how we open the government.”

But other closely watched Democrats said they weren’t surprised by the AFGE’s Monday statement — and did not appear to be moved.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen revealed that when she met with AFGE’s Kelley “weeks ago,” he had told her that he believed they should pass the CR. (AFGE has previously called for the shutdown to end, but Monday’s statement — with Horowitz’s clarification — marks the first time it has publicly supported the Republican bill.)

Shaheen said she told Kelley at the time, “I am going to do everything I can to try and get the government open.”

Sen. Elissa Slotkin told NOTUS that the AFGE’s statement “was the same thing that the president of the AFGE said in my office a couple of weeks ago.”

“Obviously, you watched me vote against it 12 times. So that’s the nub of the debate,” Slotkin added.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski seemed to be, perhaps, the only Republican senator to admit most Democrats were not going to change their minds. When asked whether the AFGE could change the dynamics in Congress, she rejected the idea.

“No,” Murkowski told reporters. “I wish that I could say, ‘Oh yeah, all we need is that entity to say that.’”