FIRST ON FOX: Republican lawmakers in the House are proposing an amendment that would reduce Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ salary to just $1, as Republicans continue to increase pressure on the DHS chief for the ongoing migrant crisis at the southern border.
Reps. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., and Chip Roy, R-Texas, are leading the push to include an amendment to the Homeland Security appropriations bill that would reduce Mayorkas’ salary to $1.
The amendment would use the so-called Holman rule, which allows lawmakers to cut the salaries of federal officials. Republicans have zeroed in on Mayorkas over the ongoing crisis at the southern border, where numbers have again increased in recent months. Conservatives say the crisis has been created and fueled by the policies of the administration.
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“None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to pay Secretary Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas a salary that exceeds $1,” the amendment states.
“Secretary Mayorkas should not be paid hundreds of thousands of tax dollars to continually fail to protect American taxpayers from threats crossing our borders,” Tenney said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Thanks to Secretary Mayorkas’ work, or lack thereof, there have been at least 5.8 million illegal crossings of our southern border since Biden took office, turning all our communities into border communities.”
‘If the President is refusing to fire him for his dereliction of duty, his salary must reflect his failures,” she said.
“It’s time to end this border crisis once and for all. The American people have no obligation to keep paying a federal official who refuses to do his job and uphold his oath, and that’s why we should zero out Mayorkas’ salary,” Roy said in a statement. “I’m glad to work with Rep. Tenney in this fight to regain operational control of the border.”
Co-sponsors on the amendment include Reps. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis.; Jeff Duncan, R-S.C.; Russell Fry, R-S.C.; Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn.; Bill Posey, R-Fla.; Carol Miller, R-W.Va.; Ryan Zinke, R-Mont.; and Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo.
The move marks the latest effort by Republicans in relation to the administration’s handling of the migrant crisis, which has seen record high numbers at the border and has become an increasingly difficult political issue for the administration as migrants have also been overwhelming “sanctuary” cities like New York City and Chicago.
Republicans have blamed the administration’s policies, including its reversal of Trump-era policies including border wall construction and the Remain-in-Mexico policy. They have also blasted the expansion of releases of migrants via humanitarian parole and what they have called “catch-and-release.”
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Some Republicans have called for Mayorkas’ impeachment, and the House Homeland Security Committee issued a report accusing him of an “intentional” dereliction of duty and of implementing a “radical open-borders agenda.”
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Roy has been one of the fiercest critics of Mayorkas, and last month called for lawmakers to stop funding DHS altogether until steps are taken to secure the border. Meanwhile, conservatives in the chamber are calling for a sweeping border and asylum reform bill to be included in any continuing resolution that would keep the government open past Sept. 30.
The Biden administration has defended Mayorkas and has pushed back against GOP criticism, saying the agency needs more funding from Congress and for it to pass a comprehensive immigration bill that it introduced on day one to fix what it says is a “broken” system that has not been updated in decades. That legislation has been rejected by Republicans in part due to the inclusion of a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. The White House recently requested an additional $4 billion for border and immigration as part of its supplemental funding request.
A DHS spokesperson emphasized those calls for more congressional action on Wednesday in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“While the House Majority has wasted months trying to score points with baseless attacks, Secretary Mayorkas has been doing his job and working to keep Americans safe,” the spokesperson said. “Instead of continuing their reckless charades and attacks on law enforcement, Congress should work with us to keep our country safe, build on the progress DHS is making, and deliver desperately needed reforms for our broken immigration system that only legislation can fix.”