President Donald Trump is considering not giving back pay to all federal employees once the government shutdown ends, suggesting it could depend on the worker in the GOP’s latest attempt to force Democrats to concede in the ongoing funding battle.

“I would say it depends on who we’re talking about. I can tell you this, the Democrats have put a lot of people in great risk and jeopardy, but it really depends on who you’re talking about,” Trump said from the Oval Office Tuesday afternoon.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Tuesday that he personally supported back pay for government workers. Privately, some Republicans have suggested the White House budget office issued the threat largely to further ratchet up pressure on Democrats, after its earlier moves to explore mass layoffs of federal employees and cancel federal funding for blue state projects.

The updated memo from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget contends that the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act (GEFTA) has either been misinterpreted or is “deficient,” an administration official confirmed to CNN.

GEFTA has commonly been understood to guarantee that furloughed workers would receive back pay at the conclusion of any future shutdowns.

Trump signed it into law during his first term amid what was then the most recent government shutdown, which ended in late January 2019 after a record 35 days.