House Speaker Mike Johnson declined to say Thursday whether he supports President Donald Trump's threat to fire furloughed federal workers if the government shutdown continues.
Johnson, R-La., sidestepped a question about his position on Trump's bid to permanently reduce the government workforce in an interview with NBC News' Tom Llamas for "Top Story."
"I support — look, we’re limited-government conservatives, and there is too much inefficiency in the federal government. It’s too large. It does too many things," Johnson said, before he defended government workers.
"There are programs that probably should be eliminated, but we want federal employees to be protected," he added.
Johnson then pivoted to the issue of furloughed workers’ getting paid after the shutdown ends, saying the law guarantees federal employees back pay.
"I think that’s what’s going to happen here. The president doesn’t want a single American employee to be harmed," he said.
Trump indicated otherwise during a Cabinet meeting Thursday.
"We’ll be making cuts that will be permanent," he said. "And we’re only going to cut Democrat programs, I hate to tell you. I guess that makes sense, but we’re only cutting Democrat programs.”
Two days earlier, he said that if the shutdown persists, there will be "substantial" cuts, "and a lot of those jobs will never come back."
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Asked to provide additional information about whom Trump might consider firing as the shutdown continues, Johnson told NBC News "I don't know" and said he hadn't spoken with Trump about the details.
The Senate on Thursday again fell short on votes to approve a short-term government funding bill for a seventh time, extending the government shutdown for a ninth day.
Llamas pressed Johnson about the potential for mass layoffs, asking him specifically about a Wall Street Journal article published Wednesday that said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has urged the White House not to initiate widespread layoffs or make dramatic cuts to federal assistance programs during the shutdown.
Asked whether he agreed with Thune, Johnson said they hadn't spoken about the matter.
Thune's office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. NBC News has not verified the Journal's reporting.
NBC News has reported that Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought told House Republicans on the first day of the shutdown, Oct. 1, that the administration will start firing federal employees in the next “one to two” days, according to two GOP sources on the conference call.
