Overview
- AFGE President Everett Kelley called for immediate passage of a clean continuing resolution and full back pay, urging “no half measures” or “gamesmanship.”
- The shutdown has reached Day 27 and is now the second-longest on record, with about 670,000 furloughed and roughly 730,000 working without pay, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.
- Senate Democrats have blocked the House-passed stopgap 12 times as they seek a permanent extension of ACA premium subsidies, while Republicans say those talks should follow reopening.
- AFGE represents more than 800,000 workers across agencies including Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, Defense and Social Security, and it has filed lawsuits, including an Oct. 3 case involving the Education Department.
- Operational pressures are intensifying, with Pentagon funds used to pay service members expiring at month’s end and USDA warning that SNAP benefits could run out as soon as Nov. 1 if the shutdown continues.