What Are the Salaries of White House Employees?
The White House released Friday its annual report listing the salaries of all 468 of its employees. Total payroll is up about $700,000 and it has added 14 more employees since last year's report.
The report, which Congress has required since 1995, shows total White House payroll at $37.8 million. The report was due on Sunday but released Friday afternoon. Typically, politicians release information for which they prefer less visibility on Friday afternoons to avoid a heavy news cycle.
Current White House payroll is higher than it was during the last year of the President George W. Bush administration, which was $33.1 million, but lower than it was in 2009, President Barack Obama's first year in office, when it was $39.1 million.
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Congress sets the salaries of the president, $400,000, and vice president, $221,100. The next highest paid employees earn $172,200. There are 20 employees making this salary, including Chief of Staff Jack Lew, Press Secretary Jay Carney, Senior Advisor David Plouffe and Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett.
Three employees make $41,000, the lowest salary on the list, not including senior policy adviser David Kaden and special assistant Andrew Parker, who have, apparently, opted not to take a salary.
Most of the employees have the words "assistant," "special assistant," "analyst," or "director" in their job title. Some of the more interesting job titles include "media monitor," "ethics advisor," "vetter," "director of African-American media" and "assistant supervisor of search and file." The list also includes three calligraphers making between $85,953 and $96,725.
The White House posted the report online, writing, "Consistent with President Obama's commitment to transparency, this report is being publicly disclosed on our website as it is transmitted to Congress."
The White House website also notes that the salaries of officials at the Office of Policy Development, including the Domestic Policy Council and the National Economic Council, are included in the report.
