As it does every year, the White House made public the salaries of its 468 employees, from the associate director for scheduling correspondence Michael S. McSwain, Jr. ($41,000) to President Obama’s chief of staff Jacob J. Lew ($172,200). Two employees — senior policy adviser David Kaden and special assistant Andrew Parker — earned exactly zero dollars, presumably by choice. Noble!
139 employees, or nearly 30 percent, earned $100,000 or more — a respectable amount, though certainly a lot less than what these same individuals could make on Wall Street or at one of D.C.’s white-shoe law firms. Along with the president’s small army of assistants and special assistants, policy advisers and senior policy advisers, this group also includes two ethics advisers and someone whose job is simply listed as “director.”
We also learned that the White House has three in-house calligraphers, who earn between $85,953 and $96,725. There are also two full-time, $45,000-a-year vetters. What, exactly, they spend all their time vetting isn’t clear, but we’re sure they find a way to keep busy.
