Boehner: 'I don't want anyone to lose their job'

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Thursday he didn't want to see anyone lose their job, responding to a controversy set off earlier this week.

After Democrats seized earlier this week on a comment by Boehner, in which he said that if federal workers lose jobs because of spending cuts, "so be it," Boehner said he didn't want to see anyone lose their job.

"I don't want anyone to lose their job, whether they're a federal employee or not," Boehner said at his weekly press conference. "But come on, we're broke."

The GOP Speaker took some heat after his remark earlier this week, and Democrats sought to portray him as callous about job losses. Democrats contend the current Republican spending bill, which cuts $61 billion from the budget for the rest of this year, would cost jobs in the federal government.

"We've got to make tough decisions, and the American people sent their representative to Washington to make tough decisions on their behalf," Boehner responded Thursday.

Republicans are hoping to finish up work on that spending measure late today or sometime tomorrow, kicking it over to the Democratic Senate, where it's expected to face a chilly reception.