The country's largest federal employee union Wednesday pushed back on President Donald Trump's claim "many" federal workers have urged him to keep the government closed until Congress agrees to fund his border wall, the N.Y. Daily News reported.
"They are eager to get back to work," Jeffrey David Cox Sr., president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said. "They unequivocally oppose using shutdowns as a means of resolving policy disputes. This is not about a wall. This is about 800,000 real people with real families and real bills to pay."
The AFGE represents more than 700,000 federal employees.
The shutdown is entering its fifth day as the White House and Congress show very little signs of movement.
Trump on Tuesday said he was prepared to do whatever it takes to get $5 billion in funding.
"I can't tell you when the government is going to be open," Trump said in the Oval Office after a Christmas call with U.S. troops. "I can tell you it's not going to be open until we have a wall, a fence, whatever they would like to call it."
The president also claimed "many" workers impacted by the shutdown told him to "stay out until you get funding for the wall."
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