Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday defended the administration’s Friday night firing of thousands of federal employees, contending that President Trump and Budget Director Russ Vought were compelled by the shutdown to act, and alleged firing federal workers will end when the shutdown does — explanations experts widely reject as unfounded.

Asked about the terminations, Speaker Mike Johnson claimed to have little knowledge of them, despite widespread reporting. He suggested the layoffs were a consequence of the shutdown, telling reporters that “the executive branch, the Office of Management and Budget, has to determine what are the most efficient and effective programs.”

“It’s a difficult task,” Johnson told reporters. “It’s not one that they relish. They don’t want to do it. Listen, the president’s own words, and the Russ Vought’s own words, and everybody who’s involved. They want the government to be opened. They’re begging Chuck Schumer and the Democrats. That’s how to make all this stop. They want this to end immediately, and they want it at the end before it started.”

READ MORE: ‘Seem Very Nervous’: Top Trump Officials Blasted After Lashing Out at ‘No Kings’ Protests

Vought, some felt, had appeared to celebrate the layoffs when he announced them on Friday. Politico noted that “Vought’s post appears to follow through on a threat to inflict more political pain on Democrats.”

“The RIFs have begun,” the OMB director had written on social media, referring to his reduction-in-force plans. Politico reported he had sounded the “layoff siren.” Initial estimates were that about 4,200 employees had lost their jobs across at least nine government agencies.

U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the vice chair of the Appropriations Committee, reportedly blasted Trump and Vought:

“Once again, when President Trump and his self-described ‘grim reaper’ decide to ignore the pleas of congressional Republicans and conduct more mass firings, they are choosing to inflict more pain on the American people.”

“No one is making Trump and Vought hurt American workers—they just want to,” she added.

U.S. Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) responded to Vought, writing: “A reminder that Russell Vought previously said he wanted Gov workers ‘to be traumatically affected. When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains…We want to put them in trauma.'”

READ MORE: ‘Cornerstone of American Freedom’: National Security Group Blasts Johnson Attack

Experts denied the legality and condemned the perceived motivations for the firings.

Brendan Duke of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities wrote: “Firing federal employees during a shutdown is not only illegal but must be seen for what it is: blatant extortion. The Trump Administration is using working people and their families as pawns in a power play with no concern for who gets hurt.”

“Claims that the shutdown has forced their hand are false,” Duke added. “Nothing about a shutdown justifies these firings or makes them necessary. That’s why they haven’t happened in past shutdowns – including in the first Trump admin.”

“Russ Vought is now officially using the government shutdown as a pretext for his continued attempts to permanently gut the civil service,” wrote Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). “The executive branch cannot unilaterally reduce agency funding that Congress has allocated: This is a serious separation of powers issue.”

REPORTER: We know the president moved forward with mass layoffs. We’re also learning there were significant cuts to staff at special education services. Are you comfortable with those cuts?

MIKE JOHNSON: I haven’t seen the specifics of that and I don’t know pic.twitter.com/F0Nn0Ujnof

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 13, 2025

READ MORE: ‘I Know People. They Don’t Believe That’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Scorches Johnson

Image via Reuters

Several senior members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet began the week Monday morning by denouncing the upcoming nationwide “No Kings” protests scheduled for Saturday. The demonstrations, first held in June to oppose authoritarianism and government corruption, drew millions of participants across the country and are expected to do so again.

As other Republicans last week, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy implied on Monday that congressional Democrats are waiting until after the protests to try to reopen the government. Democrats have put forth multiple pieces of legislation to end the shutdown but Republicans have blocked them.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who last week alleged the rallies are “hate America” protests, has stated repeatedly that he will not bring to the floor for a vote any bill from the Senate to end the shutdown that is not the continuing resolution the House passed weeks ago. Prior to the shutdown, President Trump told congressional Republicans to not negotiate with Democrats.

READ MORE: ‘Cornerstone of American Freedom’: National Security Group Blasts Johnson Attack

“The No Kings protests, Maria, really frustrating,” Secretary Duffy told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo.

“I mean, this is part of Antifa, paid protesters,” he alleged.

President Donald Trump has attempted to designate “Antifa” as a domestic terrorist organization. Antifa is not an organized group.

“It begs the question, who’s funding it, but, yeah, Democrats want to wait for a big rally of a No Kings protest, when the bottom line is, who’s running the show in the Senate?” Duffy asked, attempting to pin the blame on Democrats.

“Chuck Schumer’s not running the show,” he said of the Democratic minority leader. “The No Kings protesters, or organizers, are running the show.

“Is AOC threatening a primary against Chuck Schumer. Is she running the show?” he said of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

Duffy insisted, “You need a strong leader in the Senate to take control and make decisions, and Chuck Schumer’s blowing in the breeze, he has no power, no authority, because he’s given it up to his primary opponent, potentially an AOC, or to the No Kings protest organizers, and it’s shameful.”

Duffy was not alone.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also blasted Democrats over the No Kings protests.

READ MORE: ‘I Know People. They Don’t Believe That’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Scorches Johnson

“If in fact, they are waiting for this ‘No Kings’ protest, you know, No Kings means no paychecks. No paychecks, and no government,” Bessent also told Bartiromo. “And, Maria, I think the dirty secret here for why this has dragged on for so long is the Democratic friends in the mainstream media have been downplaying the shutdown.”

“This is getting serious,” Bessent warned,  “it’s starting to affect the real economy. It is starting to affect people’s lives.”

Critics blasted the White House.

The Bulwark’s founder and publisher, Sarah Longwell, observed: “These guys seem very nervous about the upcoming No Kings protest.”

Media Matters senior fellow Matthew Gertz added, “The administration’s target isn’t ‘antifa,’ it is dissent.”

“Nobody is paying us, Sean,” wrote Fred Wellman, a pro-democracy podcaster, Army veteran of 22 years who served four combat tours, and a candidate for the U.S. House from Missouri. “We are angry. Welcome to freedom of speech. You must have missed that part of the Constitution when you were partying on MTV.”

Sean Duffy: “The No Kings protest, Maria, really frustrating. This is part of antifa, paid protesters. It begs the question who’s funding it.” pic.twitter.com/UJHsMKBzVM

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 13, 2025

READ MORE: ‘Unfolding Rapidly’: Trump Wants to ‘Stoke Violence’ to Invoke Insurrection Act Says Expert

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is facing criticism from a group of hundreds of national security experts for his attack on First Amendment-protected speech and protest after he lashed out at next week’s “No Kings” rallies, which are expected to attract millions of Americans across the nation.

“The theory we have right now,” Speaker Johnson told Fox News on Friday, “they have a hate-America rally that’s scheduled for October 18 on the National Mall. It’s the pro-Hamas wing and Antifa people, they’re all coming out.”

Calling the protests against authoritarianism an “outrageous gathering for outrageous purposes,” Johnson later said attendees would include “the Antifa crowd, and the pro-Hamas crowd, and the Marxists.”

Other Republicans on Friday went even further, with one, House Republican Majority Whip Tom Emmer, baselessly invoking a “terrorist” claim.

READ MORE: ‘I Know People. They Don’t Believe That’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Scorches Johnson

Emmer told reporters that the “terrorist wing” of the Democratic party, “is set to hold … a hate-America rally in D.C. next week.”

The Steady State, a group that includes more than 330 former ambassadors, inspectors general, flag officers, Defense and Homeland Security officials, and senior intelligence officers, blasted the Speaker’s remarks.

“Johnson is branding the planned No Kings rally a ‘hate America rally,’ warning that all the ‘Antifa people’ will be there,” the group wrote. “He calls it ‘serious business’ and claims it’s ‘hurting real people.'”

“But Johnson, a constitutional lawyer, knows better,” they said. “Peaceful protest is not only protected under the First Amendment—it is a core democratic right and a cornerstone of American freedom.”

The No Kings coalition, responsible for the upcoming rallies, also responded to Speaker Johnson.

“After a few moments of laughter, the No Kings coalition issued the following statement: ‘Speaker Johnson is running out of excuses for keeping the government shut down. Instead of reopening the government, preserving affordable healthcare, or lowering costs for working families, he’s attacking millions of Americans who are peacefully coming together to say that America belongs to its people, not to kings.'”

READ MORE: ‘Unfolding Rapidly’: Trump Wants to ‘Stoke Violence’ to Invoke Insurrection Act Says Expert

Image via Reuters