RICHMOND, Va. β With just hours remaining before a potential government shutdown, federal workers across Virginia find themselves at the center of another political battle as Republicans and Democrats in Washington remain deadlocked over government funding.
Six months after federal workers rallied at Virginia's Capitol Square following sweeping cuts imposed by President Donald Trump, the specter of a shutdown once again threatens the livelihoods of government employees.
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"The reality is that we are once again on the brink of a federal shutdown," said Maryland Rep. Sarah Elfreth during Monday's proceedings.
Virginia is home to more than 147,000 federal workers, including members of the military, the Department of Education and Department of Military Affairs. On Monday, Democratic lawmakers from Virginia joined the Maryland delegation in pushing legislation for unemployment insurance for impacted government civilians.
"Our federal workers and civil service members should never be left wondering whether or not they'll receive their next paycheck yet here we are, one day from a potential government shutdown that would hurt Virginians and federal civil servants and Americans across the country," said Virginia Rep. Eugene Vindman.
While federal employees will receive backpay following any shutdown, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle hope to avoid a shutdown altogether.
The political divide centers on competing priorities: Democrats are pushing for the extension of health care subsidies while Republicans want to extend current funding levels for seven weeks to allow further negotiations.
House Speaker Mike Johnson criticized Democratic leadership's approach to the negotiations.
"There's a reason that Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries have come out here to stomp the feet saying that they can't go along with this. They're trying to bring in extraneous issues. They issued a counter proposal. $1.5 trillion in new spending that is unrelated to the ongoing appropriations process," Johnson said.
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