Everett Kelly

In a statement, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, Everett Kelly, calls the shutdown an avoidable crisis that is harming families, communities, and the very institutions that hold our country together.

He called on Congress to pass a clean, continuing resolution, a move Democrats have rejected as part of their effort to force Republicans to negotiate on federal health care subsidies.

Kelly wrote there is no winning a government shutdown.

Instead, they cost taxpayers billions and erode confidence.

But some federal workers have urged Democrats to stand firm.

They see the shutdown as a chance for lawmakers to reassert their authority over government spending and push back against the president's agenda.

Andrea Hsu, NPR News.