The House of Representatives voted to block Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas’ salary on Wednesday.
It was an amendment by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., for the House’s appropriations bill funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for fiscal year 2025, that would block funds in the bill from being used to pay Mayorkas.
“Taxpayers should not be paying an unelected bureaucrat who was impeached by the House. That’s why I sponsored an amendment to this year’s Homeland Security Appropriations Act to prohibit funding to be used for the salary of DHS Secretary Mayorkas,” Biggs wrote on X before the vote.
The House just passed my amendment to defund the office of the DHS Secretary.
Alejandro Mayorkas—who was impeached earlier this year—doesn’t deserve a single penny from American taxpayers.
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) June 26, 2024
A second amendment by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to reduce Mayorkas’ salary to zero failed, however, in a 208 to 200 vote. One Republican voted present on that measure.
Mayorkas is a frequent target of the House GOP’s ire, with Republican lawmakers blaming him for the enduring crisis at the southern border.
House Republicans voted to impeach him in February – the first-ever Cabinet secretary impeached since the late 1800s.
Other amendments that have passed so far include one by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, to prohibit funds from being used to implement policies that would keep asylum-seekers in Texas while their claims are being processed.
The appropriations bill itself is expected to get a final vote on Friday, though it’s highly unlikely to be taken up by the Democrat-led Senate.
