TUCSON, AZ — The clock is ticking and if a permanent deal isn't found, the government is slated to shutdown yet again on February 15. Press Secretary, Sarah Sanders, is pushing for democrats to come to the bargaining table.
"Ideally democrats would take these next three weeks to negotiate in good faith as they indicated that they would and come up with a deal that makes sense and actually fixes the problem."
While the back and forth of Washington D.C continues, the Pima Area Labor Federation is working to prepare for the next possible shutdown.
Joe Diggs works with American Federation of Federal Employees and says they're providing food, household items and other necessities to federal workers free of charge.
"We figured we would come together and get all of that and bring it in and try to put together ways that they can stretch their dollars so you don't have to pay for food."
Diggs says federal workers can take advantage of this service during the labor federations regular business hours.
Earlier today, Diggs says employees from the federal prison in Safford traveled to Tucson to pick up supplies to bring back to nearly 200 employees.
"They were really short on laundry soap, just the basic stuff, detergent, laundry soap, pet food."
When it comes to when federal employees will receive their back pay, Diggs says it is up to each individual agency and how quickly they expedite the process.
