Republican lawmakers have attempted to cut US Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s salary to just $1.
The legislation, which is not expected to make it through the House or Senate, was introduced by far-right Republican US Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.
“Pete Buttigieg has failed to serve the American people as the Secretary of Transportation,” Ms Greene said on the House floor ahead of the vote.
“Deserving a taxpayer-funded paycheck is about job performance not about personalities of identity politics,” she said.
The amendment was passed via voice vote as part of the 2024 Transportation and Housing and Urban Development spending bill. No lawmaker opposed the amendment as part of the spending bill.
FILE - Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks about airline flight delays and cancellations in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex, May 8, 2023, in Washington.— (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
The legislation is not expected to make it past a House vote or through the US Senate.
Ms Greene used the Holman Rule, a law that gives members of Congress the authority to reduce salaries of specific federal employees or cut programs entirely, to introduce the amendment.
She previously used the same law in an attempt to reduce the salary of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s salary.
🚨 BREAKING: I’m proud to announce my amendment to FIRE Pete Buttigieg just PASSED the House.
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) November 7, 2023
Pothole Pete staged fake bike rides to the White House and used private planes funded by taxpayers to receive awards for the way certain people have sex.
American taxpayers should not… pic.twitter.com/9fq9XrXLV2
Greene said that, in her opinion, the $1 salary for Mr Buttigieg was still too high. She’s continuously referred to the transportation secretary as “Pothole Pete”, a reference to his time as mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
During his time in office, the town reportedly had a consistent pothole problem.
Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) talks with reporters about a possible US government shutdown as she stands at the outside stairs of the House of Representatives after a vote at the US Capitol in Washington on 14 September 2023— (REUTERS)
Ms Greene pointed to her numerous problems with Mr Buttigieg’s performance as she spoke about his potential pay cut.
She specifically took issue with his environmental advocacy work and his $1bn pilot plan to build racial equity in roads.
The program was launched in June 2022 with the aim of reconnecting cities and neighbourhoods that had been divided by racial segregation or segregated road projects.
“He’s been busy calling roads racist and forcing equity action plans and implementing climate change initiatives rather than strengthening our nation’s transportation and infrastructure systems,” Ms Greene said.
