House Democrat defends voting for bill that would slash Defense Secretary's salary to just $1: 'I'm not particularly concerned about him'

• The House passed a defense spending bill on Thursday that cuts Sec. Lloyd Austin's salary to $1.
• That's thanks to an amendment from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
• But Rep. Jared Golden, one of two House Democrats who voted for the bill, sees little issue.

Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine voted for a bill on Thursday that would reduce Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's salary to essentially nothing.

But Golden — a centrist Democrat who represents a swing district and has a history of bucking his party — is standing by his vote.

"I doubt Lloyd Austin's spending much time thinking about that," Golden told Insider on Friday. "If he is, then he shouldn't be in that position."

Austin currently makes over $235,000. Golden also noted that he previously voted against a waiver to allow Austin, a former active-duty member of the military, to serve as the Secretary of Defense, a civilian position.

"I'm not particularly concerned about him," said Golden. "It's public service, I don't think he does it based upon the size of the paycheck that he receives."

The provision was just one part of the Republican-led defense spending bill that passed the House on Thursday, which would fund the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2024. The bill is unlikely to become law in its current form — the Senate, which has drafted its own bipartisan bill to fund the Pentagon, is unlikely to accept the House-drafted legislation.

"I'm a veteran. I served in Afghanistan and Iraq, and I'm a member of the Armed Services Committee," said Golden, explaining his vote for the underlying defense bill.

The salary cut was only added to the bill because of an amendment from Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who cited the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and COVID vaccine mandates in the military as among the reasons she wanted to "fire" the nation's top military official.

Perhaps in a sign that Republicans know the bill is unlikely to become law, Greene's amendment was tacked on via a simple voice vote earlier this week.

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told the New York Times that Austin is "focused on leading the Department of Defense and ensuring our service members worldwide have the resources and support the U.S. military needs to conduct our mission to defend the nation" when asked about Greene's provision.

Nonetheless, all but two Republicans voted for the bill, and they were joined by two Democrats — Golden and Rep. Marie Gluesekamp Perez, whose office did not respond to Insider's request for comment on her vote.

The duo also voted for House Republicans' version of the National Defense Authorization Act, a separate bill pertaining to the military that included provisions targeting the teaching of race and healthcare for transgender service members.