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Washington, D.C.—The head of the nation’s largest independent federal-employee union blasted Congress today for taking the country to the brink of yet another unnecessary and dangerous government shutdown.

Tony Reardon, national president of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), also demanded an end to budget brinksmanship and said Congress should pass a fiscal year (FY) 2016 funding bill that will adequately fund federal agencies and avoid sequestration.

“Shutdown showdowns cannot and must not become business as usual.

These exercises in futility erode the public’s confidence in its government. Federal employees should never have been forced to endure the anxiety of not knowing if they would be furloughed or forced to work without a paycheck. These are middle-class workers with bills to pay and families to support,” Reardon said.

Financially-strapped agencies spent countless wasted hours and resources preparing for a shutdown. That included preparing shutdown plans and providing informal notifications to employees about their work status—a process that heightened their anxiety and fear.

Congress averted a shutdown by passing a continuing resolution (CR) shortly before FY 2015 drew to a close at midnight. But the CR provides funding only through Dec. 11.

“Federal workers may breathe a temporary sigh of relief today, but they know a shutdown could happen in about 10 weeks—just in time for the year-end holidays,” President Reardon said. “Federal employees should not become pawns in a political game all over again. Enough is enough. Congress must do the right thing and fulfill its basic responsibility to our country of passing a budget.”

NTEU’s top priority in the weeks ahead will be to avoid another shutdown in December.

Reardon said NTEU will also work with Congress and the administration to ensure that the FY 2016 budget bill provides adequate funding to federal agencies and ends the draconian sequestration spending levels.

Another priority for NTEU is making sure federal employees and retirees are not forced to bear the brunt of “offsetting” any spending increases included in a long-term budget deal, a long-term highway bill, a tax extenders package or any other legislation.

“Federal employees have already contributed $159 billion in compensation cuts toward deficit reduction. That’s far more than enough,” President Reardon said.

NTEU, the nation’s largest independent federal-employee union, represents 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.