Democrats’ Shutdown Strategy Backfires After Major Public Sector Union Turns on Them

Democrats’ Shutdown Strategy Backfires After Major Public Sector Union Turns on Them

Mounting pressure from one of the country’s most powerful labor organizations has put Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his Democratic colleagues in an increasingly difficult position, as their government shutdown strategy begins to unravel.

For Schumer, the political cost of continuing the shutdown may now far outweigh any perceived advantage. The harm caused by the ongoing stalemate — from delayed pay for military service members to economic strain on federal employees — pales in comparison to the potential fallout of alienating one of the Democratic Party’s most influential allies: the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).

In a forceful statement issued Monday, AFGE President Everett Kelley called for an immediate end to the shutdown and laid the blame squarely on Congress for allowing it to drag into its fourth week.

“This week, Congress pushed our nation into the fourth week of a full government shutdown — an avoidable crisis that is harming families, communities, and the very institutions that hold our country together,” Kelley wrote, pointedly noting that it is Congress — not President Donald Trump — that controls federal spending. “Both political parties have made their point, and still there is no clear end in sight.”

Kelley then urged lawmakers to do what Republican legislators have repeatedly called for: pass a clean continuing resolution.

“Today I’m making mine: it’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today,” Kelley continued. “No half measures, and no gamesmanship. Put every single federal worker back on the job with full back pay — today.”

According to NBC News, the AFGE represents roughly 820,000 federal and D.C. government employees, making it the largest public-sector union in the United States and a significant political force in Washington.

The impact of Kelley’s statement could be profound. Many Democrats have already begun to waver privately on whether extending the shutdown is politically sustainable, and AFGE’s public demand provides both pressure and political cover for those seeking to change course.

Some Democrats, reports suggest, would have already voted to reopen the government if not for fear of backlash from their most ideologically extreme supporters. Now, with the AFGE breaking ranks, those lawmakers have a viable off-ramp — and a justification rooted in labor solidarity rather than partisan retreat.

The AFGE has long stood as one of the Democratic Party’s most reliable constituencies. Beyond the party’s support for progressive causes, few groups have been more closely aligned with Democrats than public-sector employees, who often view the party as a guardian of job security, collective bargaining rights, and federal funding.

That bond has shown clearly at the ballot box. In the 2024 presidential election, voters in the affluent suburbs surrounding Washington, D.C. — home to thousands of federal workers — overwhelmingly supported former Vice President Kamala Harris, underscoring the deep loyalty between government employees and the Democratic establishment.

Simply put, Democrats cannot afford to lose the AFGE.

“There is no ‘winning’ a government shutdown,” Kelley warned in his statement — a line likely to resonate deeply with Schumer, who has previously argued that the shutdown benefits Democrats politically. Once that perception evaporates, Democrats will have little incentive to maintain their hardline position.

In short, if Congress ultimately votes to reopen the government this week, Everett Kelley’s statement — and the immense influence of the AFGE — will have played a central role in forcing their hand.