Federal Workers Urge Democrats To Hold Firm On Government Funding

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Source: Huff Post

Oct 9, 2025, 06:00 AM EDT | Updated 30 minutes ago


WASHINGTON – Federal employees who have been furloughed as a result of the government shutdown are urging Democrats not to buckle in their standoff with Republicans over government funding — even if that means they’ll be going without paychecks in the coming weeks. They described the shutdown fight as one worth waging, despite the likelihood of incurring credit card debt to pay for necessities, support their families and pay off a mortgage. Some said they’d be willing to go as far as finding another job if it comes down to it.

“If we don’t stand up now, we might not have jobs in a month, in two months, in three months, or four months,” James Kirwan, counsel to the chair of the National Labor Relations Board, told HuffPost, stressing the need to curb President Donald Trump’s ability to shutter federal agencies and slash the federal workforce unilaterally. “There’s nothing to stop them from doing that unless the budget comes with assurances. So we are willing to take some temporary pain in order to have strength for our programs,” he added.

Monica Gorman, a research analyst at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said this shutdown is different from prior ones because the Trump administration is seeking to permanently close critical programs, including those that deorbit satellites providing data Americans rely on for weather forecasting, climate research, agriculture, safety and natural disaster alerts.

“What I really want them to understand is that this is not a normal budget debate,” Gorman said of lawmakers in Congress. “We’re in the middle of an unprecedented power grab by the White House. They want to take away Congress’s power to determine how much money is spent and what it’s spent on.” “If they come to a compromise that doesn’t include very clear protections for the money to be appropriated and spent as they direct, then nothing else they get out of it is going to matter, because the White House will just impound the money again,” she added.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/government-shutdown-furlough-democrats_n_68e71971e4b0ab8134d0b10c