AFSCME President Lee Saunders says the federal government shutdown is a “one-two punch for working families.” He warns that “on top of crumbling health care access, communities will now lose critical federal services they depend on every day.”
“As families across the country are crushed by skyrocketing health care costs, anti-worker extremists in Congress are driving a shutdown rather than funding public services, protecting care for millions and keeping hospitals open,” Saunders said Wednesday. “The administration and its yes-men and women in Congress created a health care crisis that has pushed our system to the brink of collapse and now they’re treating federal workers like bargaining chips.”
The shutdown, which began early Wednesday, is the first in nearly seven years. It will interfere with the delivery of many essential services and the performance of critical government functions. That includes communications from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with health-related information, economic data collection and analysis such as the monthly jobs report, and more. Many federal workers will be furloughed.
The Trump administration has threatened to execute mass firings of federal workers during a shutdown. In response, AFSCME and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) have filed a lawsuit to challenge these threats, alleging that the firing of federal employees during a shutdown is an unlawful abuse of power.
For AFSCME members, the shutdown is a direct threat to our jobs and the public services we provide in communities across the country. States, cities and towns are already facing budget shortfalls and now stand to lose even more federal funding.
At a time when working families and retirees face skyrocketing health care costs, Congress should act to lower health care costs, protect federal workers and fund public services. Instead, the president and his yes-men and women in Congress are shutting down the government to protect the massive tax breaks for billionaires and rich corporations they passed in the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
Anti-worker extremists failed to extend premium tax credits for people who get their insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace. Premiums for these families will double next year. Even people with private insurance will see their premiums rise, as hospitals and clinics struggle to cover the increased costs of uncompensated care.
But rather than lowering health care costs for working people and retirees, anti-worker extremists in Congress are prioritizing making billionaires even richer.
“Workers understand that this is a choice, and that anti-worker politicians chose to protect billionaire wealth while abandoning the rest of us,” Saunders said. “Enough. It’s time to stop playing games with our health, our jobs and our families. Fund the government. Fix the health care crisis. And put working people first.”