The Biden administration provided Congress with a complete list of White House staffers and their salaries last week.
The move — a required action since 1995 — provides lawmakers with a list of each West Wing employee’s title and pay. According to a Fox Business analysis, the “vast majority” of staffers earn more than $100,000, with 24 making the maximum of $180,000.
Among the officials pulling down $180,000 are Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Chief of Staff Ron Klain, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice, Staff Secretary Neera Tanden, and National Climate Advisor Regina McCarthy. Last year, 22 staffers earned $180,000 — including former Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who left the administration for a slot at MSNBC earlier this year and was replaced by Jean-Pierre.
At the time, the White House touted its senior officials’ racial and gender diversity — noting that 36% came from ethnically diverse communities and 56% were female.
“In alignment with the President’s commitment to diversity and pay equity, the White House has taken significant steps to ensure the White House staff reflects the diversity of the country and the highest standards,” the administration said, especially pointing to “economic and social justice for all.”
Though the White House emphasized that average pay was roughly equal between male and female employees, a report from American Enterprise Institute scholar Mark Perry showed that there was a gap in median pay — the metric used by agencies such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and, at times, the White House itself — of 20% between men and women.
“The typical female staffer in the Biden-Harris White House currently earns only 80 cents for every $1 a male staffer earns, and there is a 20% gender pay gap at the Biden White House,” Perry remarked. “That pay gap is more than two times greater than the average gender pay gap for the Washington, DC labor market of 9.3%.”
The President of the United States is paid $400,000 per year and receives a $50,000 expense allowance. Without adjusting for inflation, the position came with annual pay of $100,000 in 1960, followed by $200,000 between 1970 and 2000.
The most recent tax returns from President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden showed that the couple brought in more than $610,000 during their first year in the White House, sending tax payments of approximately $150,000 and $31,000 to the federal government and the state of Delaware, respectively. Biden also donated roughly $17,000 to charity, including the Beau Biden Foundation, which works against child abuse.
“With this release, the president has shared a total of 24 years of tax returns with the American public, once again demonstrating his commitment to being transparent with the American people about the finances of the commander in chief,” the White House said in a statement from April.
Vice President Kamala Harris and husband Douglas Emhoff earned $1.7 million, paying more than $523,000 in federal income taxes and donating roughly $22,000 to charity.
Beyond the executive branch, members of Congress earn $174,000 per year, while the Speaker of the House earns $223,500. The Chief Justice of the United States earns $258,100, while the Associate Justices earn $246,800.