House Republicans on Wednesday approved a bill that would block Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funds from going to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ salary, the latest example of Republicans targeting the embattled top Cabinet official.
The House of RepresentativesFixes Democratic lawmakers, led by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), are campaigning against the fiscal 2025 Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill to prevent funds appropriated in the bill from being used to pay Mayorkas’ salary.
To be sure, the Department of Homeland Security spending bill is unlikely to pass in its current form, including the Mayorkas amendment, due to opposition from Senate Democrats and the White House. Still, Republicans are trying to include their priorities in the bill to put themselves in a stronger position in future government budget negotiations with the Senate.
The move to cut Mayorkas’ pay comes after the House of Representatives passed articles of impeachment against the Homeland Security secretary in February, making him the first Cabinet member to be punished since the 1870s. The Senate then rejected both articles of impeachment in April.
The vote on Biggs’ Mayorkas amendment was decided nearly along party lines, 193-173, with 72 senators not voting. Jennifer Gonzalez Colon, the Republican who represents Puerto Rico, was the only “no” vote.
“Alejandro Mayorkas, who was impeached earlier this year, does not deserve a single dime from American taxpayers,” Biggs wrote. Social Platform X After voting.
Biggs’ amendment passed, but a similar bill sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) failed Wednesday afternoon.
The House of Representatives is GreeneFixes The bill calls for Mayorkas’ salary to be reduced to $1. The bill takes advantage of the Holman rule, which allows lawmakers to cut the pay of certain federal employees in spending bills.
The House rejected Greene’s bill on a near party-line vote of 200-208-1. Republicans Larry Buckson (Indiana), Zach Nunn (Iowa), and Maria Elvira Salazar (Florida) joined Democrats in voting against the bill, as did Gonzales Colon and Amata Coleman Radewagen, the representative of American Samoa. Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) voted in favor.
Greene blasted her Republican opponents.Post to X After voting.
“My amendment would have effectively fired Secretary Mayorkas by cutting his salary to $1. These ‘Republicans’ voted to kill the amendment and keep him on his salary even after we impeach him,” she wrote. “@RepMariaSalazar of Florida apparently thinks Secretary Mayorkas is doing a great job. @ZachNunn of Iowa thinks Secretary Mayorkas should be paid as a reward for invading the southern border. And retiring @RepLarryBucshon of Indiana wants Secretary Mayorkas to keep his job.”
House Republicans have tried to use the Holman Rule to cut the salaries of several Biden administration officials they oppose. For example, Greene introduced an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2025 Department of Defense appropriations bill that would have reduced Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s salary to $1. House Republicans approved a similar amendment to one of their spending bills last year, but it failed to pass.
Democrats repealed the regulation in 2019 when they held the House majority, but House Republicans reinstated the Holman Rule as part of a rules package last January.
