Mike Johnson sidesteps whether he supports Trump’s threat of mass layoffs during shutdown
House Speaker Mike Johnson declined to say Thursday whether he supports President Donald Trump’s threat to lay off furloughed federal workers if the government shutdown continues.
Johnson, R-La., evaded a question about his position on Trump’s attempt to permanently downsize the government in an interview with NBC News’ Tom Llamas for “Top Story.”
“I argue — look, we’re limited-government conservatives, and there’s too much inefficiency in the federal government. It’s too big. It does too many things,” Johnson said before defending civil servants.
“There are programs that probably should be cut, but we want federal employees to be protected,” he added.
Johnson then addressed the issue of paying furloughed workers 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 get hurt,” he said.
Trump indicated otherwise during a Cabinet meeting Thursday.
“We will make reductions that will be permanent,” he said. “And we’re only going to cut Democratic programs, I hate to tell you. I guess that makes sense, but we’re only going to cut Democratic programs.”
Two days earlier, he had said that if the closure persisted, there would be “substantial” cuts, “and many of these jobs would never come back”.
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Asked for additional information on who Trump might consider firing as the shutdown continues, Johnson told NBC News “I don’t know” and said he had not discussed details with Trump.
The Senate again failed to secure a vote on Thursday to approve a short-term government funding bill for the seventh time, extending the government shutdown for a ninth day.
Llamas pressed Johnson on the potential for mass layoffs, asking him specifically about a Wall Street Journal article published Wednesday that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., urged the White House not to initiate mass layoffs or make drastic cuts to federal aid programs during the shutdown.
When asked if he agreed with Thune, Johnson said they hadn’t talked about the issue.
Thune’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. NBC News has not verified the Journal’s information.
NBC News 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 would begin laying off federal employees in the next “one to two” days, according to two Republican sources on the conference call.
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