The House passed a bill on Wednesday that would block Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas from taking pay.
This is an amendment by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., to the House appropriations bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for fiscal year 2025 that would block funds from the bill from being used to pay Mayorkas.
The bill passed 193-173, with only one Republican voting no.
“Taxpayers should not be paying the salary of an unelected official who was impeached by the House of Representatives, which is why I introduced an amendment to this year’s Homeland Security Appropriations Act to prohibit funds from being used for Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas’ salary,” Biggs wrote to X ahead of the vote.
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The House of Representatives voted to cut the pay of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. (Reuters/Sarah Silbiger)
But a second amendment offered by Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia that would have eliminated Mayorkas’ pay was defeated in a vote of 208 to 200. One Republican voted in favor of the measure.
Mayorkas has been a frequent target of House Republican ire, with GOP lawmakers blaming him for the protracted crisis at the southern border.
House Republicans voted to impeach Mayorkas in February, the first time a Cabinet member has been impeached since the late 1800s.
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The amendment was introduced by Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona. (Getty Images)
The DHS spending bill gives the department a roughly $3 billion increase starting in fiscal year 2024.
The bill also includes $600 million to fund the completion of former President Trump’s border wall, as well as provisions to block funding from being used for abortion care and transgender health care for foreign nationals detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Other amendments that have passed so far include one by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, that would prohibit funds from being used to implement policies that keep asylum seekers in Texas while their claims are processed.
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An amendment offered by Georgia Republican Senator Marjorie Taylor Greene to reduce Mayorkas’ salary to zero was defeated. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
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The bill, spearheaded by Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., would block the Department of Homeland Security from enforcing COVID-19 mask policies.
The budget bill itself is due for a final vote on Friday, but is highly unlikely to be taken up by the Democratic-led Senate.
The White House has already threatened to veto the bill if it reaches President Biden’s desk.
