In a blow to congressional Democrats, the nation’s largest union of federal employees says it is time for lawmakers to drop their demands for extending health insurance subsidies and instead get on board with Republicans’ clean funding proposal. The union says the country is nearing the point where air travel and food safety services will soon be significantly affected by the shutdown.

The president of the American Federation of Government Employees, Everett Kelley, said in a lengthy statement on Monday that Congress must pass a funding bill to get Americans out of this “avoidable crisis.” His union boasts more than 80,000 members. 

“It’s time to pass a clean continuing resolution and end this shutdown today. No half measures, and no gamesmanship. Put every single federal worker back on the job with full back pay — today,” Mr. Kelley wrote. “They ensure our skies are safe, our veterans receive care, our borders are protected, and our food is inspected. They come from every political background and every corner of this nation. What unites them is a simple belief: that service to country is honorable work.”

Mr. Kelley and his members have for weeks been calling on Congress to find a negotiated solution to the shutdown, something Democrats have been demanding as well. AFGE almost exclusively supports Democratic candidates for state and federal office. 

But Mr. Kelley now says that it is time for Democrats to sign on to the Republicans’ clean spending bill, known as a continuing resolution, so his members can be paid while those negotiations take place.

“The path forward for Congress is clear: Reopen the government immediately under a clean continuing resolution that allows continued debate on larger issues,” Mr. Kelley said. He also wants lawmakers to “ensure back pay for every single employee who has served or been forced to stay home through no fault of their own” and “address important policy matters like addressing rising costs and fixing the broken appropriations process.”

“Unfortunately, shutdowns have become a recurring tactic in Washington. But there is no ‘winning’ a government shutdown. They cost taxpayers billions, hurt small businesses, and erode confidence in government itself. And the American people know this,” Mr. Kelley said.

The effects of the shutdown have hit his AFGE members particularly hard, with the Office of Management and Budget director, Russ Vought, planning permanent dismissals of employees rather than the typical furloughs. A number of unions led by AFGE have already sued to protect union employees from firings by the Trump administration, and a federal judge in California has temporarily placed a hold on the dismissals. 

Several Democrats have had some unfortunate verbal slip-ups in recent days about their motivations for continuing the stalemate. Senator Chuck Schumer, who has been leading the charge to keep the government closed unless there is a negotiated settlement, said in an interview with Punchbowl News last week that “every day gets better for us” during this shutdown, referring to Democrats’ political standing. 

The House minority whip, Congresswoman Katherine Clark, said in an interview with Fox News that Democrats are blocking this funding bill because it is one of the few points of “leverage” that Democrats have. She is the second-highest-ranking Democrat in the House. 

“It’s time for our leaders to start focusing on how to solve problems for the American people, rather than on who is going to get the blame for a shutdown that Americans dislike,” Mr. Kelley said Monday. “Because when the folks who serve this country are standing in line for food banks after missing a second paycheck because of this shutdown, they aren’t looking for partisan spin.”

“The government belongs to all of us. Let’s open it back up and keep America moving forward,” he added.