House advances bid to nix salary for disgraced Iran envoy Rob Malley

House lawmakers voted on a bipartisan basis Thursday to move forward with a measure that would bar disgraced ex-Iran special envoy Rob Malley from receiving a State Department salary.The lower chamber voted 218-188 to deny any funding for the State Department to pay for the reinstatement or re-employment of Malley, who is currently on leave and being investigated by the FBI for allegedly disclosing classified material.Eleven Democrats joined 207 Republicans to vote in favor of the amendment, which was introduced by Rep.

Claudia Tenney (R-NY).Another 188 House Democrats opposed the measure, while 31 lawmakers did not vote.The amendment is part of an appropriations bill — slated for final passage on Friday — that doles out more than $51 billion to fund the State Department and related programs.Malley, who had his security clearance revoked in April 2023 and was subsequently placed on leave, shared “sensitive” and “classified” materials outside of US government channels to “advance his diplomatic efforts” with Iran, according to a probe by Republican lawmakers.Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member James Risch (R-Idaho) and House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) launched their own investigation into President Biden’s top Iran diplomat after the State Department was not forthcoming with information.Their investigation uncovered “troubling allegations” that Malley stored classified material on his personal email account and cellphone — which was later accessed by a “hostile cyber actor.”Last August, an Iranian media outlet leaked an internal State Department memo describing “serious security concerns” with Malley’s actions.The 61-year-old had just landed a plumb gig at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) as a visiting professor and lecturer.A subsequent announcement from the school acknowledged Malley was “on leave,” but made no mention of an investigatio...