(Headline USA) House Republicans introduced an appropriations amendment this week that would defund Vice President Kamala Harris’s office and reduce Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Daniel Werfel’s salary to $1, Fox News reported.
Lawmakers were set to debate a number of appropriations packages that must be passed by the end of next week to avoid a government shutdown.
Conservatives in the House have argued the GOP should use the spending bill as an opportunity to defund parts of President Joe Biden’s leftist agenda—starting with his vice president.
An amendment introduced by Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., would halt funds to Harris’s office, with the Republican arguing Harris has not efficiently used the taxpayer dollars she’s been given. For example, despite being tasked with overseeing the administration’s response to the border crisis, illegal immigration continues to surge under Harris’s watch.
Another amendment by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., would reduce Werfel’s salary to $1. The measure is part of the House GOP’s larger effort to roll back Biden’s IRS expansion, which would disproportionately affect working class Americans, Republicans said.
Congress should not continue to approve “autopilot funding for an out-of-control government agency that is perhaps most in need of reform,” said Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., last week.
Other amendments would defunding diversity, equity, and inclusion offices within the Biden administration, including ones in the Treasury Department and the Office of Personnel Management.
However, it is unlikely that any of these amendments will pass in the House’s final appropriations package since Republicans still appear unsure of how to avoid a shutdown.
“We’re kind of without a path forward,” a senior GOP aide said last week.
Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., “doesn’t want to shut down,” said the source. “That was his ultimate goal. So we’ll see how he does that.”
The House must pass at least 12 appropriations bills before Nov. 17.
