Federal Workers’ Union Tells Dems to Back Down – The Tuesday AM Quickie 10/28/25
The world is a mysterious place and today I’m pondering why famous politicos keep agreeing to interviews with Isaac Chotiner. - Whitney
ON THE SHOW TODAY
10/28: Sam is hosting solo today, and the guest is Andy Kroll, journalist at ProPublica covering justice and the rule of law on to discuss his piece on Russ Vought, The Shadow President.
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Today you’ll read about the AFGE’s new demand that lawmakers pass a “clean” continuing resolution and end the shutdown, the catastrophic hurricane squaring up on Jamaica, and the enormous number of ChatGPT users who show signs of severe mental distress.
THE BIG NEWS
Federal Workers’ Union Tells Dems to Back Down
The union representing 820,000 federal and D.C. government workers told lawmakers yesterday to pass a “clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today.” In a statement posted to the American Federation of Government Employees website, national president Everett Kelley said, “Both political parties have made their point,” and told lawmakers they must work together across parties to address rising costs.
“Unfortunately, shutdowns have become a recurring tactic in Washington. But there is no ‘winning’ a government shutdown,” he wrote. “They cost taxpayers billions, hurt small businesses, and erode confidence in government itself. And the American people know this.” He linked to a survey showing that 9 out of 10 Americans think this government shutdown is at least a minor problem.” Nearly 70 percent of Democrats polled see it as a major problem.
As my coworker and I reported earlier this month, about 1.4 million federal workers have gone without at least one paycheck already and are struggling to make ends meet. At the time, those who spoke to us were adamant that Democrats must continue to hold out and force Republicans to restore funding to certain health programs and extend Obamacare subsidies. Democratic lawmakers HuffPost spoke with yesterday afternoon seemed intent on holding the line; Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), for example, said he’s committed to immediately reopening the government, but in a way that “prevents the illegal budget actions Trump has taken – including against our federal workers – and stops Americans’ health care costs from exploding.” Meanwhile, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, will run out of money on Nov. 1. According to Politico, Trump and his confederate, House Speaker Mike Johnson, have decided not to lift a finger to use contingency funds to prevent people from starving.