EPA union: Government shutdown deal must include health care funding
The president of the union representing Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) workers on Monday urged Congress to include health care protections in a bill to reopen the government as the shutdown approaches record length.
“The U.S. government must be fully funded immediately, and that has to include funding for health care,” said Justin Chen, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Council 238.
“The very foundation of EPA’s mission is to protect human health,” he continued. “We cannot build a healthy nation while denying Americans the right to access affordable health care.”
The Monday statement bucks the broader AFGE’s position after it called for Congress to pass a “clean” continuing resolution last week.
“No half measures, and no gamesmanship,” AFGE President Everett Kelley said at the time. “Put every single federal worker back on the job with full back pay — today.”
The AFGE, according to its website, represents more than 800,000 federal workers.
The continuing resolution, which passed the House earlier this fall, has failed to advance in the Senate 13 times since the shutdown began Oct. 1. Expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies have been a sticking point for Democrats amid funding negotiations.
“AFGE Council 238’s bottom line remains the same: civil servants should not be used as political pawns in this ongoing standoff,” Chen said Monday.
“[President] Trump and Republicans in Congress have the power to end the shutdown now by supporting a deal that includes health care funding,” Chen added.
House and Senate GOP leadership has largely poured cold water on Democrats’ calls to extend the health subsidies as part of the funding bill.
However, in recent days, lawmakers and even Trump have floated alternatives to ObamaCare in an effort to appease Democrats.
“When you see the increases in ObamaCare, it never worked. It never will work, and we can do something with the Democrats much better than ObamaCare,” Trump said late last week.
“Less money and better health care. And I think that’s something that could come out of this with the Democrats,” he added. “We work with the Democrats.”
Since the onset of the shutdown, the EPA has faced layoffs and furloughs. It’s unclear how many employees have been let go.