The bill to reduce Dr. Anthony Fauci’s salary to $0 introduced by the Georgia Republican. According to a news release on Twitter, “until a new [National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases] Administrator is confirmed by the Senate.”
On Thursday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) introduced long-shot bills to lower the salary of Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease official, to $0 and bar businesses from refusing service to unvaccinated people, the latest stunt Greene has pulled since she was stripped of her committee assignments in February.
Greene slammed Fauci during a press release, who has polled as one of the most trusted voices on the pandemic, as “Dr. Always Wrong” and aimed at him for being the highest-paid federal official with a $434,312 salary, part of a broader right-wing effort to disparage Fauci that includes former White House aide Peter Navarro.
A bill which would lower Fauci’s salary to $0 “until a new NIAID Administrator is confirmed by the Senate,” and launch a probe to determine “what Fauci and the NIAID knew when they knew it, what they spent money on and how the agency responded to the virus.” is now proposed by Greene.
It is not yet confirmed if cutting Fauci’s salary could be authorized even if the bill is passed.
The bill also directs the Government Accountability Office “to conduct a study about the correspondence, financials, and policy memos inside the NIAID before COVID through the end of this year.”
“This will allow us to see what Fauci and the NIAID knew when they knew it, what they spent money on, and how the agency responded to the virus,” according to the news release.
🚨NEW BILL ALERT!🚨
The “#FireFauci Act” will slash the salary of Dr. Always Wrong to $0 and the “#WeWillNotComply Act” will ban vaccine “passports,” prevent discrimination against the unvaccinated, and much more to protect the freedom of the American People. pic.twitter.com/JVR01lBID5
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) April 1, 2021
The “We Will Not Comply Act,” also proposed by Greene that would crackdown on “vaccine passports,” a measure to verify vaccination status, by barring some businesses from “discriminating against a person based on their COVID-19 vaccine status” and allowing people to file lawsuits against companies who do. This bill would also “cut off federal funding for a vaccine mandate” on certain groups, including federal employees, students and those with religious objections, and prevent travel restrictions for the unvaccinated.
Opposition from Greene and other Republicans like Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to vaccine passports – which would likely come from the private sector – comes despite GOP support for allowing businesses to refuse service to gay people.
Greene’s bills are not expected to pass the Democratic-controlled House and Senate.
However, several Republican lawmakers have clashed with Fauci over coronavirus mitigation efforts, like wearing masks even after vaccination.
In mid-March, a PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll released showing that that 30 percent of Americans do not plan to get vaccinated, including 49 percent of Republican men.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has criticized the vaccine passports idea.
“It’s completely unacceptable for either the government or the private sector to impose upon you the requirement that you show proof of vaccine to just simply be able to participate in normal society,” he said at a Monday news conference, according to NPR.
Seventy-three House Democrats have backed a bill that would remove Greene from Congress altogether, though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who endorsed Greene’s removal from committees, has said Democratic leadership is not backing that effort. The bill would require a two-thirds majority to pass, making it as certain to fail as Greene.
Watch it here: Youtube/CNN
Sources: FORBES, THE WESTERN JOURNAL