(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . House Republicans have a new favorite joke, but still no plan for funding government [1] ['Daily Kos Staff'] Date: 2023-11-09 You might think that with another government shutdown looming due to the inability of House Republicans to do even the most basic of their assigned tasks, they might at some point stop throwing pies, towel off a bit, and get to that. Nope. Not going to happen. But there's always time for little performative stunts, which is what we got on Thursday. Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney introduced an amendment to their budget plan that would reduce the salary of Biden administration press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to $1. It’s obviously not meant to become law. This is one of the stunts that's now a go-to move for any House Republican who has a bone to pick with any government official. "Defund" them all! That'll show them! So far, House Republicans have attempted to defund the office of the vice president and reduce Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's salary to $1, while simultaneously: The Pentagon’s director of diversity and inclusion, the head of the department’s equity and inclusion office, the military’s chief diversity officer, and the assistant secretary of defense for readiness — a transgender woman — were all targeted with amendments that would trim their annual salary to less than $1. House Republicans also approved a measure to reduce Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's salary to $1. If you're noticing a trend here, House Republicans seem to focus this move on Black and LGBTQ+ members of government, both top-level and not. But they've also threatened to use similar mechanisms to defund the prosecutors who have indicted Donald Trump, the Department of Justice and FBI, the FBI again, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and take-your-pick. If you've ever had a child who was obsessed with telling one particular not-funny joke, you probably recognize this pattern. Demanding that a perceived enemy have their government salary "reduced to $1" is the House Republican equivalent of a child telling you their favorite joke, shouting something like "Because that's what hippos do!" before running away in a fit of giggles, leaving you there wondering what the hell just happened and how long it will be before they're back to do it again. Tenney's amendment targeting Jean-Pierre failed, 165-257. That’s more support than Wednesday's attempt to defund the office of the vice presidency, and we won't speculate on the reasons for that, but having to hear The Hippo Joke twice in two days is … well, at this point, we’re used to it, right? And no, the House didn’t put forward the appropriations bill that they had planned on voting on. And they are now heading out for a long weekend. The countdown to government shutdown continues. RELATED STORIES: House Republicans swiftly act to obstruct on Trump’s behalf House Republican threatens to defund the police if they keep investigating Donald Trump [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/11/9/2204670/-House-Republicans-have-a-new-favorite-joke-but-still-no-plan-for-funding-government?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_1&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/