White House: Staff salaries total $38M

The White House pays out $37.8 million a year in salaries to 456 staffers, according to a new report to Congress released by the Obama administration.

That averages to an annual salary of $82,844 per year, although staff salaries are top-heavy: the median salary is $70,700 per year. The list includes officials at the Domestic Policy Council and National Economic Council, along with White House employees.

Some 22 senior administration officials, including chief of staff Denis McDonough and senior advisers Valerie Jarrett and John Podesta bring home the maximum $172,200 salary.

New White House press secretary Josh Earnest is also among the group, receiving a $37,000 annual pay raise from his job as Jay Carney’s top deputy. Eleven men and 11 women are paid at the White House’s top salary.

Two employees — Elyse Cohen, the deputy director of the first lady’s Let’s Move initiative, and Nathaniel Loewentheil, a policy adviser on the National Economic Council — apparently work for free.

The lowest paid salary is $42,000 per year for junior analysts and staff assistants.

In a blog post accompanying the report, the White House said it was releasing the salary figures “consistent with President Obama’s commitment to transparency.”

The disclosure did not include President Obama, who earns an annual salary of $400,000.

In 2013, 460 administration employees were paid a total of $37.9 million.

You can view the full list of White House salaries here.