House votes to defund Mayorkas’ salary in DHS funding bill

The House of Representatives voted to block Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro 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.

Just one Republican voted against the measure, which passed 193 to 173.

“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.

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The House voted to defund Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ salary. (Reuters/Sarah Silbiger)

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 Cabinet secretary impeached since the late 1800s.

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That amendment was introduced by Rep. Andy Biggs. (Getty Images)

The DHS appropriations bill gives the department roughly a $3 billion increase from fiscal year 2024.

It also includes $600 million to fund completion of former President Trump’s border wall and provisions to block funding from being used for abortion care and transgender health care for noncitizens detained in ICE custody. 

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.

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An amendment to shrink Mayorkas’ salary to zero by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene failed. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, file)

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A measure led by Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., that passed would block DHS from implementing COVID-19 mask policies.

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. 

The White House has already threatened to veto the measure if it got to President Biden’s desk.