Salaries revealed for current White House staff: 22 make $180,000

The annual payroll report for White House staffers was released on July 1. The first salary tally of the Biden administration showed significant changes compared to the Trump administration and revealed the most expensive payroll in White House history with 22 staffers earning $180,000 a year.

Most notable was the significant increase of 190 additional employees — for a total of 567 White House staff. Also, Biden’s White House significantly reduced the gender pay gap to about 1% compared to Trump’s 37% gender pay gap.

In addition to the increased number of staffers, Biden’s White House combined four-year payroll may surpass $200 million throughout his presidency. This is a sharp increase compared to the previous administrations’ payroll of $164.3 million (Trump, 2017 – 2020) and $188.5 million (Obama, 2009 – 2012).

These staffers make $180,000 a year

The annual payroll report details the staffers’ names and associated salaries, which will cost the American taxpayers $49.6 million this year. Contributing to this amount are the 22 staffers who bring in $180,000 a year. This is the list of top-paid staffers according to the annual report to Congress:

• Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary
• Ron Klain, Chief of Staff
• Neera Tanden, Senior Advisor
• Jake Sullivan, National Security Adviser
• Cedric Richmond, Senior Adviser to the President
• Susan Rice, Domestic Policy Adviser
• Louisa Terrell, Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs
• Anthony Bernal, Assistant to the President and Adviser to the First Lady
• Kate Bedingfield, White House Communications Director
• Jen O’Malley Dillon, Deputy Chief of Staff
• Brian Deese, National Economic Council Head
• Mike Donilon, Senior Adviser to the President
• Gina McCarthy, National Climate Adviser
• Anne E. Filipic, Director of the Office of Administration
• AnnMarie Tomasini, Director of Oval Office Operations
• Jonathan J. Finer, Principal Deputy National Security Adviser
• Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall, Homeland Security Adviser
• Dana A. Remus, White House Counsel
• Cathy Russell, Director of the Office of Presidential Personnel
• Julissa Reynoso, Chief of Staff to the First Lady
• Steve Ricchetti, Counselor to the President
• Bruce Reed, Assistant to the President

The top two staffers with the highest salary

The top paid staffers are Molly Groom, the Policy Advisor for Immigration, with a salary of $185,656, and Elizabeth Hone, the Senior Policy Advisor for Broadband, who will make $183,164 this year.

Increases in staffers

Using OpenTheBooks.com as a resource, we compared several key metrics between the Trump and Biden administrations based on their first year as president.

• During their first years, Melania Trump employed five staffers while Dr. Jill Biden currently employs 12 dedicated staffers. 
• Trump and Biden equally had 22 assistants to the President
• Biden has 567 White House staff compared to Trump’s 377.

Staff gender and pay gaps

Fifty-six percent of President Joe Biden’s senior White House staff are women, of which 36% are from ethnically and racially diverse backgrounds, according to Fox News. 

According to the payroll report, men receive an average salary of $94,639 annually while women average $93,752. This is an approximate 1% gender pay gap for the Biden administration. American Enterprise Institute analyzed payroll gaps and found President Trump reported a 37% gender pay gap, and President Obama reported a 16% pay gap during their first years.

In conjunction with the report to Congress, the White House issued the following statement:

“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 of economic and social justice for all.”

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that women make up approximately 50.8% of the overall U.S. population and count for 47% of the labor force. This coincides with President Biden’s executive order signed last week to hire the first Chief Diversity and Inclusion Director to advance diversity, accessibility, equity, and inclusion.

In 1995, Congress initiated the requirement for the White House to submit an annual staffers’ salaries report on July 1st of each year.