Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Friday the government shutdown is helping the Trump administration make its case that the government can run on less money and with fewer employees.
“What all of us are doing at the Cabinet is taking a hard look at like, ‘Wow, maybe we don’t need all of these resources. Maybe we’re actually able to run with a lot less resources,” he said at an energy event held by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “[Democrats are] actually helping us get to the point where we could say, you know, we don’t need as many people. We don’t need as much cost.”
Burgum has previously said the shutdown is an opportunity to make cuts.
The Interior Department also has been planning to lay off at least 2,000 workers but a federal judge has paused reductions in force during the shutdown. Interior has emphasized that the layoff planning predated the shutdown.
