What White House Jobs Pay
The White House’s director of stenography is apparently one of the few positions not driven by political alignment. Before Dominique Dansky Bari landed the job for Trump’s White House in June 2017, she worked as deputy director of stenography under Obama starting in 2014. The job entails managing a staff of official White House stenographers, who take notes on all meetings and deliver transcripts to the press after official events. While Dansky Bari got a salary increase in 2020 up from $95,500 in 2019, the director of stenography under Obama, Margaret Suntum, made $117,846 in 2016.
The role of White House social secretary has been called the “least controversial” job in the building by the Washington Post. It’s a role that involves planning and executing the many social events hosted by the White House. First lady Melania Trump chose Anna “Rickie” Niceta as social secretary because of her two decades of experience as an event planner. Niceta makes $168,000 a year in the role, compared to the $119,723 made by Deesha Dyer in 2016 under Obama.
President Trump has been praised for keeping his White House payroll lean and that extends to two of his closest advisors. The president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, hold official titles as advisor and senior advisor to the president, respectively. They are both listed in the White House salary report but there is a nice, round $0 next to each of their names, as both have chosen to forgo a paycheck for their role.
There are several jobs that fall under the umbrella of Oval Office operations and Molly Michael (pictured on the left) has one of the most important. Her official title is deputy assistant to the president and executive assistant to the president and that includes a salary of $158,000 per year for essentially being Trump’s right-hand woman. Michael got a significant raise in 2020; her 2019 salary was $120,000. There are eleven other people in Trump’s administration with executive assistant titles, each of whom makes between $48,000 and $77,700 per year.
Another member of the $183K club is Robert C. O’Brien, who took over as national security advisor from John Bolton in September 2019. The job involves reporting to the president on matters of national security and serving on the national security council, which produces sensitive intelligence information. Under Obama, Susan Rice was making $176,461 per year in the same position, as of 2016.
Who knew calligraphy was such a lucrative skill? There are three calligraphers on staff at the White House, the lowest-paid of whom makes $84,400 per year. Lee Ann Clark is chief calligrapher and brings home a tidy $109,200 for her beautiful writing, which adorns official invitations, certificates, name cards, programs and other documents. Obama also had three calligraphers on staff, with the top scribe earning $100,110 in 2016.
When the president needs to fill a position, he will turn to the folks inside the Presidential Personnel Office. This office is responsible for vetting possible candidates and making recommendations to the president for potential appointments. John D. McEntee II (pictured on the right, with Molly Michael) makes $183,000 a year as director of the PPO since assuming the role in February 2020. Under Obama, Rodin Mehrbani held the role and made $172,200 in 2016.
How much is it worth to provide legal advice to the president on matters of ethics? A pretty penny, it turns out. Trump has two attorneys on payroll with the title of ethics counsel, the highest-earning of whom is Monica Ashar. Obama also had two ethics counsel attorneys on staff, the highest-paid of whom made $123,406 in 2016.
Trump’s current mouthpiece for the media, Kayleigh McEnany, is one of the highest-paid members of the White House staff. In case you hadn’t noticed, press secretary is a very tough gig, which is why she’s the fourth person to hold that position since Trump took office in 2017. Sean Spicer abruptly resigned in 2017 and his replacement, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, resigned in 2019, paving the way for Stephanie Grisham and then McEnany, who took on the role in April 2020. In 2016, Obama’s Press Secretary, Josh Earnest, made $176,461.
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