SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – The United States and its countless federal employees were staring down the potential of another government shutdown.
"We ask all of our members to contact their members of the Senate, members of Congress, and urge them to open the government or keep the government open and not shut it down,” Mario Campos, National Vice President for American Federal Government Employees (AFGE) - District 12, said.
"We just came off of the largest government shutdown, which was over 40 days just a few months ago."
District 12 of the AFGE covers employees in several states, including California. AFGE is the largest union that represents federal employees.
"So the impacts of that I think are still being felt not only by our members and the general public that uses the services that they provide,” Campos said.
However, a shutdown now appears less likely.
A major development happened on Thursday afternoon. Senate Democrats have reportedly reached a deal with the white house to avoid a government shutdown, with the deadline looming Friday at midnight. The agreement would pass five spending bills to fund much of the government for the rest of the fiscal year, plus a short-term measure to keep d-h-s funded for two more weeks as immigration talks continue.
Despite the news, Campos told ABC 10News another shutdown would be difficult to deal with.
"We've already used up a lot of those resources, and so now we have to go back to our partners and see if they can assist us again with more resources,” Campos said. “I think, you know, just taking the economy and the situation nationwide, it's going to be more difficult, definitely this time around than the last."
As we await a deal by Friday at midnight, Campos’ message to union members is simple.
"To be steadfast and stay strong and continue to be union members and encourage other people to be union members so that we can continue to fight for everyone," Campos said.
