(DailyAnswer.org) – On June 26, the House passed an amendment that will defund the salary of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who was impeached by the House earlier this year due to his handling of the crisis at the southern border.
The amendment, sponsored by Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, was added to the Department of Homeland Security funding bill for fiscal year 2025. It prevents the funds in the bill from being used on Mayorkas’ salary.
The fiscal year funding bill provides the Department of Homeland Security with a nearly $3 billion increase from fiscal year 2024, including $600 million to complete former President Donald Trump’s border wall.
One-hundred-ninety-three Republicans voted in favor of the amendment, with 172 Democrats and one Republican, Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón, voting against it. Twenty-eight Republicans and 44 Democrats abstained from voting.
In a post on Twitter, Biggs wrote that Mayorkas “doesn’t deserve a single penny from American taxpayers.”
Biggs’ amendment was not the only proposed amendment. Another amendment proposed by Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, which would have reduced Mayorkas’ salary to $1, failed in a vote of 208 to 200. However, an amendment proposed by Greene preventing the Department of Homeland Security from partnering with the State Department for “Safe Mobility Offices,” was passed.
An amendment proposed by Texas Rep. Chip Roy that prevents money from being used on policies that allow asylum-seekers to remain in Texas while their claims are being processed, passed, as did Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles’ proposal to prevent the Department of Homeland Security from implementing COVID-19 mask policies.
If the appropriations bill with the amendments gets to President Joe Biden’s desk, the White House has said he will veto it.
In February, the House voted to impeach Mayorkas in a 214-213 vote, making him the first Cabinet secretary impeached since the late 1800s. However, the impeachment articles were not taken up by the Democrat-controlled Senate.
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