AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler on Thursday decried the Trump administration’s plans to initiate a reduction in force if discretionary funding lapses next month as outlined in a new White House memo. 

“America’s federal workers — the hardworking people across the country who keep our essential government services running — have already suffered immensely from the chaos and destruction inflicted by this administration’s Project 2025/DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency] agenda,” Shuler said in a statement. 

“They are not pawns for the president’s political games,” she added. 

Other union leaders have raised similar concerns.

National Treasury Employees Union President Doreen Greenwald said lawmakers are using the federal budget “as a game of chicken with federal employees as the collateral damage.”

The president has sparked speculations of a potential shutdown after canceling a meeting with Democratic leaders to resolve a stalemate. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) requested a meeting with President Trump after receiving the silent treatment on negotiations with GOP lawmakers. 

Schumer and Jeffries are pushing to undo cuts to Medicaid ushered in under the “big, beautiful bill” signed by Trump over the summer. The two said they aren’t opposed to a government shutdown if their requests are not acknowledged.

However, the president has refused to budge on the topic and abandoned a previously scheduled meeting with the leaders alleging they have “unserious and ridiculous demands.”

The back-and-forth has caused an uncertain future for federal workers who could miss out on paychecks if government spending lapses.

“This administration must fix the mounting health care crisis and find a funding solution now to avoid a costly government shutdown,” Shuler said Thursday.

“We urge the administration to get to work. Time is running out,” she added.

More than 201,000 civil servants have left the federal workforce according to data from the Partnership for Public Service’s tracker.  

Some took voluntary buyouts while others were forced to leave due to measures initiated by DOGE, which aimed to weed out waste, fraud and abuse. 

Workers at the Department of Labor, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Education Department, and Environmental Protection Agency have experienced massive cuts and layoffs in recent months, hampering their staff size amid a burgeoning workload.