Obama White House Staff Salaries Revealed
The Obama Administration publicly released its Annual Report to Congress on White House Staff today, which contains the title and salary details of all White House staffers. Of those, 22 make the maximum salary of $172,200, including Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Senior Advisers David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett, Director of Speechwriting Jon Favreau, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, and Director of the National Economic Council Larry Summers.
On its official blog, the White House noted that it has been required to submit such a report to Congress every year since 1995. The implied difference this year is that, "consistent with President Obama's commitment to transparency," the report has also been published for the public to see on their website.
See the full report after the jump.
Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
It's actually surprising how many low-paying positions there are. $36,000? I guess for somebody coming straight out of school, the prestige of the workplace would make up for the pay.
July 1, 2009 8:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
The take away is that nobody's getting rich working for gov't as a Federal employee. The gravy train is Federal contractor or lobbyist. Guys like Emanuel and Obama could make far, far more money in private sector jobs.
What's wrong with these people, that aren't motivated by money? Tsk tsk.
July 2, 2009 7:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
This can't be a complete list of WH staff. What's a "Detailee" in the Obama admin? A contractor? Do they get benefits? Are they full-time? Permanent? Why aren't they "Employees"?
July 2, 2009 9:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
A detailee is a federal employee who is 'borrowed 'by the White House from another federal agency (including civil servants and active service military).
The other federal agency continues to pay salary and benefits of the detailee, but the person does work at the White House.
'Detailing' allows the White House to obtain dedicated specialized expertise without actually having to hire onto the White House staff. This usually is for short-term but high profile projects.
'Detailees' may only work ouside of their home agencies for a finite time. I think the usual time is 6-9 months. Any longer than that and the person should go on the White House payroll.
Unlike White House political appointees, detailees are specifically prohibited from engaging in political activity.
Vice President Cheney made extensive use of detailees during his tenure.
July 2, 2009 10:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
So detailees are sort of a way of not being totally "transparent." That's what I thought. Thanks.
July 2, 2009 10:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
How so? If Citoyen92's interpretation is correct, detailees who work for White House political appointees have the same information listed as for the other staff on the list.
July 2, 2009 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Transparency is, frankly, difficult for the institution known as the "White House." The White House really is only a building with various component offices. For lack of a better description, it's kind of like a downtown office building wherein there are many occupants, some related and some now. Like a law firm (on the fourth floor) and a pharmacy on the first.
The Obama Administration really only has command over the following offices:
-White House Office (WHO) - the president's political staff
-Office of Administration (OA)
-Office of the Vice President (OVP)
-Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)
-National Security Council (NSC)
-National Economic Council (NEC)
-Council of Economic Advisory (CEA)
-Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)
-Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)
That list that was published includes some (but not all) people who work in the offices above. That's because the salary list is only one which lists political appointees, or career staff (detailees) who are requested to work at the WH for political appointees.
That list does not list the career staff in those offices who work at the White House regardless of administration. That list does not show the NSC's "detailees" from the CIA, NSA, etc. That list does not show the Secret Service agents, the Secret Service officers, the active duty military, the National Park Service staff. That list doesn't show White House head Usher Steve Rochon. That doesn't include the Air Force One Presidential Pilot's Office.
That's why it's always so hard to nail down who works at "The White House." It's more of an abstract collection rather than a knowable numbers.
July 2, 2009 11:29 AM | Reply | Permalink