House passes amendment to slash Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s pay to $1

The House Wednesday passed an amendment proposed by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene that would slash the salary of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to $1.

Republican lawmakers voted to cut Mr. Austin’s salary from more than $221,000 annually because of their discontent with his job performance.

“I’m proud to let you know my amendment to FIRE Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin just passed on the House floor. Under his failed leadership, our military is being destroyed, and he doesn’t deserve to serve any longer,” Ms. Greene, Georgia Republican, posted on X. “This is the first time in the 118th Congress the Holman rule has been used to hold a Biden official accountable. It’s time for more.”

The rule allows amendments to appropriations bills that would reduce the salary of or fire specific federal employees, or cut specific programs.

Ms. Greene said in a video on social media that Mr. Austin deserved to be fired because of the botched U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and military recruitment being at an all-time low.

“He forced 8000 military troops out of the military because they refuse the COVID vaccine. There’s a loss in confidence in Lloyd Austin’s leadership and he deserves to be fired,” she said. “So my amendment to fire him using the Holman rule, reduced his salary down to one dollar and one dollar is too much.”

However, Ms. Greene has signaled she is unlikely to support the DoD spending bill that her amendment will be attached to, because the legislation has funding for Ukraine which she opposes.

Lawmakers passed her amendment by voice vote, and Democrats did not call for a roll-call vote, as they expect the salary reduction measure to fail, given Democratic control of the upper chamber and Democrats’ opposition to the House GOP-crafted defense budget bill.

The Pentagon’s director of diversity and inclusion, the head of the department’s equity and inclusion office, the military’s chief diversity officer and the assistant secretary of defense for readiness — a transgender woman — were all on the spending chopping block through amendments that would slash their annual salary to less than one dollar.