Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Wednesday he would like to cut government spending on PBS and Planned Parenthood, but noted he may first face pushback from Congress.

“I want to. That’s for sure,” Johnson said in an interview on Fox News’ “The Story with Martha MacCallum” when asked if he planned to disband the two organizations.

Host Martha MacCallum pointed out that since both groups receive money from the government, they could be the main targets of Republicans’ efforts to cut spending.

“Yes,” Johnson said as MacCallum clarified whether he wants to cut spending on the organizations, but added: “We need to build consensus to have the votes for it.”

Johnson suggested the White House could make more immediate spending changes.

“Now some of this is being done by order of the White House. He has broad authority to do a lot of that,” Johnson said, referring to President-elect Trump. “But when Congress is involved, it takes the hard work of legislating and getting everyone on the same page.”

“So there will be a lot of ideas coming out,” Johnson continued. “We don’t want to put too much of it out there now, okay, but this is part of preparing the playbook for release and distribution in January.”

Johnson spent much of the interview touting what he called a “generational opportunity” to restructure government to promote “limited government and individual freedom.”

“Here, in my opinion, Martha, we have a generational opportunity to really transform the administrative state, the deep state. We want to use a blowtorch to penetrate the regulatory state. And I think what Elon and Vivek have in mind can help us in that regard,” Johnson said, referring to billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, whom Trump tapped to lead the first Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had entrusted.

The Congressional Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus is intended to be a counterpart to the commission led by Musk and Ramaswamy. The group is led by Reps. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) and Pete Sessions (R-Texas) in the House of Representatives and by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) in the Senate.

Musk and Ramaswamy are expected to speak to Capitol Hill Republicans about DOGE on Thursday.

In response to the Trump administration’s previous proposal to eliminate federal funding for public media, Paula Kerger, president and CEO of PBS, issued a statement in 2020 criticizing the work of the institution and its status as an institution at the time the highest rank in terms of public trust.

“PBS and our member stations have received the bipartisan support of Congress because public television plays an important role in homes and communities across the country,” the 2020 statement said. “For 50 years, PBS has served as a trusted source for Education and thought-provoking programs, including school readiness initiatives for children, support for teachers and caregivers, public safety communications, and lifelong learning on broadcast and digital platforms.”

Planned Parenthood is a regular target of Republicans because of the abortion services it offers.

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