Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) filed four salary-slashing Holman rule amendments to the Department of Defense appropriations bill as they look to cut the salaries of officials they believe have failed at their jobs.
The Holman rule is a way for members to file an amendment to an appropriations bill to cut the salary of federal employees. It is rarely used, but during this new Congress, members of the House Freedom Caucus have been threatening to use it as an alternative to impeachment.
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The leaders targeted by Boebert include Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness Shawn Skelly, the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director Cyrus Salazar, Director of DOD Diversity and Inclusion Novel Dillard, and Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Gil Cisneros.
Her amendments would slash all of their salaries down to $1.
“I am taking action to hold DOD officials responsible for their failed leadership, which has distracted from the mission and jeopardized the United States military’s ability to defend our country,” she said in a statement. “From the botched Afghanistan withdrawal that left 13 American soldiers dead, to the implementation of a woke agenda which has weakened our military and caused recruitment to suffer, Joe Biden’s bureaucrats have continued to put their leftist agenda ahead of our national security.”
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) filed a similar amendment that would slash outgoing Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley’s salary to $1. Milley is set to retire in October, so this will have little effect on him if it passes.
Conservatives have been threatening to use this measure since the beginning of this Congress as they have not been happy with the job the administration officials have been doing.
But with how difficult passing appropriations bills have been already this year, these amendments will likely get sidelined.
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They are also not the first introductions to target DOD officials. Earlier this month, Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) filed an impeachment resolution against Austin for what he described as his dereliction of duty, specifically pertaining to the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan which resulted in 13 American service members dead from a suicide bomber.
“When you take the idea of wanting to be a leader, then you have to accept the fact that the fault stops at you,” Mills said. “The successes that are carried out, the missions, the objectives that are achieved, that’s at the behest of the commanders that are beneath you. When there’s a fault, you got to stare in the mirror because, ultimately, you’re the one that holds the buck, and you’re the one responsible.”
