In the House recently, members broadly rejected a proposed amendment to a spending bill from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) that would have nearly zeroed out the salary for a top official within the Army.
Luna, a first-term Congresswoman, is very vocal in supporting former President Donald Trump as he seeks another term in office. The tactic of attempting to legislatively put targeted officials’ salaries at just $1 is something Republicans from her political corner have sought to utilize previously, though previous ploys have also been unsuccessful. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), for instance, went similarly after Shawn G. Skelly, a transgender woman performing the duties of Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, meaning she’s in that role in what’s termed an acting capacity.
Speaking in the House, Boebert made a point of referring to Skelly with the incorrect gender pronouns… because bullying is apparently just a go-to tactic for some of these people. Luna’s failed amendment targeted Michael Connor, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, and the vote on her proposal was held just in recent days, shortly after the House finally seated a new Speaker after Republicans gave up on their weeks of infighting. There were 120 votes in favor of the proposal… and 291 against it.
Luna wanted to attach her amendment to a House bill funding federal operations in the areas of energy and water development. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civil works projects, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, and the Department of Energy were all among the areas of government covered by the underlying legislation, which eventually passed the House. The House, which remains under GOP leadership, has been working through a series of individual spending bills to keep the federal government operational, though it’s unclear all of this will materialize in a deal to keep the government running beyond the imminent deadline in time… meaning something else may be needed.
