House Republicans saved a transgender official in President Joe Biden‘s administration as they rejected an amendment from Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene seeking to cut the salary of the official.
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted on an amendment proposed by Greene that sought to “castrate” the salary of Rachel Levine, the U.S. Assistant Health Secretary and the first openly transgender individual that has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
“The House rejected @RepMTG Amd’t #103 by a vote of 170-254-1 present,” the House Press Gallery on X, formerly Twitter wrote.
The amendment was rejected by 46 Republicans and 208 Democrats, while 170 Republican House members voted in favor of the amendment.
The rejected vote comes shortly after Greene announced the amendment and criticized Levine and the transgender community. Earlier this week, Greene delivered a speech on the House floor announcing her amendment where she called Levine a “mentally ill man,” and accused the official of attempting to groom children.
“My amendment uses the Holman rule (an amendment to appropriations legislation that can reduce the salary of or fire specific federal employees) to reduce, no castrate, the salary of assistant secretary for health Richard Levine to $1, the same way he supports castrating children who suffer from gender dysphoria,” Greene said in her speech. “It is our job to protect our children from sexual groomers like Levine and reducing his salary to $1 is a strong first step.”
In a post to X following the failed amendment, Greene wrote, “Apparently there are some Republicans who think Dick Levine, a mentally ill man pretending to be a woman, deserves to keep his job as Assistant HHS Secretary.”
“They don’t want to fire him even though he supports the genital mutilation of children, mandating a COVID vaccine for kids, and pushes for men to dominate women in sports,” the post added.
Newsweek reached out to Greene via email for comment.
On the other hand, the Congressional Equality Caucus criticized Greene saying, “UPDATE: The House rejected an amendment to cut the salary of Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine to $1. It’s disgusting that this amendment specifically targeted the 1st openly transgender Senate-confirmed federal official.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra also posted on X following the vote saying, “HHS and I unequivocally stand with our @HHS_ASH Admiral Rachel Levine & the community she serves as a role model for. There’s no room for bigotry in our public discourse. We won’t tolerate any attacks on the LGBTQI+ community, their right to access care and to be who they are.”
This is not the first time Greene has been critical of Levine and previously violated X’s rules by misgendering the Biden official.
“Now that I think about it. As Dr. [Rachel] Levine advocates for ‘gender affirming care’ for minors, has [she] undergone the #Weeniechop [her]self,” Greene wrote in the tweet that was flagged by X. “Or is [she] just pushing this on children?”
The post by Greene last year came in response to an interview with Levine from MSNBC where she said, “Trans youth are vulnerable and they suffer significant harassment and bullying, sometimes in schools or in their community.”
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services via email for comment from Levine.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
