Pressure is building on Democratic and Republican leaders to end the 28-day shutdown after the nation’s largest federal workers union called for an end to the stalemate as rank-and-rile GOP lawmakers sound the alarm over rising health insurance premiums.
The blunt message from Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, is one of the biggest developments in the monthlong standoff.
It appeared to be aimed squarely at Senate Democrats, who have voted a dozen times to block a clean seven-week continuing resolution passed last month by the House, and it came from someone representing 820,000 federal and D.C. workers.
In calling on Congress to “pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today,” Kelley argued that “both political parties have made their point” and that it’s time to bring hundreds of thousands of government employees back to work.
Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) said the statement would have a “lot of impact” and that Democrats would discuss it in the days ahead.
“They’ve been our friends, and we’ve worked with them over the years. I’ve had a good connection with them and I’ve talked to them. They’re in a terrible mess. So many of their workers are not being paid,” Durbin said of the union.
Even so, other major unions, including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents between 1.4 million and 1.6 million state and local workers, haven’t broken with the Democratic position.
Durbin, the No. 2-ranking Senate Democratic leader, said the expiration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding starting Nov. 1 is another major concern.
“The SNAP program feeds 1 out of 8 Americans, and I’ve heard a lot about it back home over the years,” he said, adding that the looming shortfall in SNAP funding is driving a sense of urgency in the Senate Democratic caucus.
Republicans, for their part, are feeling pressure from members of their party to address rising health insurance premiums in GOP-leaning and swing states, where insurance companies are warning of substantial cost increases in 2026.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced Monday that House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) is working with three House committee chairs to craft a health care plan to address concerns related to the expiration of enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
While Republicans argue the ACA or ObamaCare is bad policy, they acknowledge that double-digit premium increases could hurt their political chances in next year’s elections.
“It affects everybody. Our premiums are going to go up 19 percent,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said. “Basically, our health care is going to hell in a handbasket.”
He said the expiration of the enhanced subsidies is responsible for only a fraction of the projected higher health care costs next year.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said the expiration of SNAP funding and the start of the ACA’s open enrollment period in many states Nov. 1, which will drive home the financial burden of higher premium costs for many families, is a potential inflection point.
“We’ve heard pretty clearly through [the U.S. Department of Agriculture] that you’re not going to see these SNAP benefits paid out. That’s happening at the same time you’ve got the release of the ACA premiums. So, you’ve got a pivot point that many have looked at and said, ‘That’s going to be the precipitating event.’”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said Monday that Republicans can’t allow the enhanced health insurance subsidies to simply expire at the end of the end of the year.
“I’m in the camp of that we can’t just allow the premium support to expire,” he said. “If we do, without doing something else about it, it’s going to double the cost of premiums in my state. It’s a half a million people, almost, in my state who buy their insurance on the exchange. That’s just not going to be affordable.”
Hawley said “there are some very sensible reforms” that could be made to the program to ensure the “very wealthy” aren’t getting subsidized insurance and to require lower-income Americans pay into the system.
Growing air traffic controller staffing shortages are also adding to the pressure. More than 50 airports around the country have reported staff shortages in recent days as air traffic controllers have been required to work for weeks without pay.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a temporary ground stop on Sunday due to a staffing problem at a Southern California air traffic facility, delaying flights departing from Los Angeles International Airport.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that air traffic controllers “are wearing thin” and that passengers should expect additional delays in the days ahead.
Durbin told reporters Monday that he would vote for bills to pay SNAP benefits and air traffic controllers during the shutdown, reflecting a broader desire among Senate Democrats to address the mounting public anger.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned Sunday that military service members will miss paychecks Nov. 15 if the shutdown drags on for several more weeks.
He said the administration would have enough flexibility to pay the troops at the end of the month but that $8 billion in unspent research and development funds identified by Pentagon officials to cover service members’ pay would soon run out.
Senate Republicans have discussed several strategies for bringing bills to reopen all or parts of the federal government, including proposals to pay military members and air traffic controllers.
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters Monday the easiest way to solve the financial strain felt is for Democrats to vote for a House-passed resolution to fund the government through Nov. 21.
Democrats, however, have already blocked that measure 12 times on the Senate floor.
A Gallup poll published last week found that Americans’ approval rating of Congress has dropped by 11 percentage points to 15 percent since the shutdown began.
Several polls indicate voters blame Republicans slightly more than Democrats for the shutdown, but many blame both parties.
Senators in both parties are starting to hear directly about the financial hardships that congressional staff and Capitol police have endured because of missed paychecks.
Murkowski told colleagues on the Senate floor that she heard from a police officer who had to find a way to pay for gas for the 40-minute commute to the Capitol and for all-day child care while working without pay to protect lawmakers.
The Alaska senator said she’s starting to worry about the impact on people “not only financially” but from a “mental health perspective.”
Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) told The Hill that he encountered a Capitol worker who was in tears because of the strain of not knowing when she would get her next paycheck.