House Republicans Move to Cut Pete Buttigieg’s Cabinet Salary to $1

The largely symbolic gesture is unlikely to be approved with a Democratic-controlled Senate

House Republicans this week moved to cut the salary of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to $1 in a largely symbolic move unlikely to be passed.

The measure, which advanced in a voice vote, was sponsored by Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as an amendment to a broad government spending bill dealing with the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development.

The bill to which the amendment is attached has yet to be passed in the House is almost sure to fail in the Democratic-controlled Senate, though its dig at Buttigieg underlines the anger some Republicans are feeling.

In introducing the measure, Greene claimed that American taxpayers "should not be on the hook for paying for his lavish trips or his salary." The amendment comes on the heels of a U.S. government watchdog announcing an audit of Buttigieg's use of government airplanes for some trips.

Related: Pete Buttigieg Hits Back at Critics of His Train Derailment Visit: 'That's Bulls---'

Reuters reported in February that the Transportation Department's Office of Inspector General would review 18 flights made by Buttigieg, following a request by Republican Sen. Marco Rubio.

A department spokesperson told Reuters the costs of the flights was $41,905.20, which was less expensive than flying commercial.

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The first major openly gay presidential candidate and the first openly gay candidate to win a presidential nominating contest, Buttigieg, 41, was the 2020 campaign cycle’s breakout star: a former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and Navy vet who triumphed at the Iowa caucus and came in a close second place in the New Hampshire primary.

After dropping out of the race and endorsing Joe Biden, Buttigieg was tapped as the secretary of transportation for the Biden-Harris administration.

In August 2021, he and his husband Chasten announced that they became parents. Since then, the couple have offered occasional glimpses of their family, including sharing sweet photos from the twins' outdoor birthday party on Instagram in August 2022.

Related: Chasten Buttigieg Opens Up About Book Bans, Memoir and Life as a Dad: 'Gets Me Really Emotional' (Exclusive)

Buttigieg has also become a very public face of the Biden administration, often going viral for exchanges with Fox News hosts including Bret Baier, who asked Buttigieg in April about a military flight he had taken to the Netherlands in which he brought along his husband, Chasten.

Buttigieg, who was attending the Invictus Games, responded, "I led the American delegation as one of the great honors of my time in this job. And the diplomatic protocol on a presidential delegation is that the principal is often accompanied by their spouse. It was a great trip. Incredible."

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