2024: Schweikert Voted To Reduce The Salary Of The Special Assistant To The Director Of Programming At Voice Of America To $1. B In June 2024, Schweikert voted for , according to Congressional Quarterly, "amendment no. 4 that would reduce to $1 the salary of Setareh Sieg, special assistant to the director of programming at Voice of America." The vote was on the amendment. The underlying legislation was the FY 2025 State-Foreign Operations Appropriations. The House rejected the amendment by a vote of 166 to 244. [House Vote 300, 6/27/24; Congressional Quarterly, 6/27/24; Congressional Actions, H.Amdt.1033; Congressional Actions, H.R. 8771]
- Sieg Was Suspended Under The Trump Administration And Restored To Her Position When President Biden Was Sworn In; A Later Investigation Into The US Agency For Global Media Focused On This And That Sieg Had Falsified Her Education Credential And Gave "Variable Treatment" To An Employee. According to Fox News, "In particular, the investigation has focused on Setareh Sieg, a VOA journalist who was suspended and expected to be fired under the Trump administration in early January 2021, only to be restored 'with no loss of pay or seniority' the day after President Biden was sworn in, according to documents obtained by the committee. Sieg's attorney and USAGM have both pushed back on the committee's findings." [Fox News, Their probe has largely focused on accusations that Sieg falsified her higher education credentials rather than getting a Ph.D. in political history from a French university. Republicans obtained communications between the University of Paris and the French Embassy in the U.S. that state Sieg got 'an establishment degree, not a state doctorate' in October 2021. The committee report also detailed whistleblower accounts that say Sieg gave variable treatment to at least one employee and hired that employee's brother for a senior position." [Fox News, 6/12/24]