17 at White House earn $157,000

WASHINGTON — The former head of the Texas Lottery Commission is making $157,000 a year at the White House. The Bush assistant formerly known as "Altoid Boy" is pulling down $141,000. And the president's "body man," personal aide Blake Gottesman, gets a relatively paltry $54,400.

The White House staff salary list, provided this week to congressional committees, shows a salary structure that might look high by most Americans' standards but includes a long list of people who could be — and in many cases eventually will be — earning a lot more money in the private sector.

Overall, 17 Bush aides are at the top staff salary level of $157,000 a year, which translates to paychecks that some in high-priced Washington consider subsistence level.

White Press Secretary Scott McClellan, a $157,000 guy, said Bush "has surrounded himself with a strong, capable and dedicated team of public servants."

"White House staffers are making tremendous sacrifices — personal and financial — to serve the American people. Many do not have time for a personal life nor are they able to spend the kind of time they would prefer to spend with their families," said McClellan, a newlywed.

The average White House salary for the 141 staffers crunches out at $67,075, comfortably above the $48,420 average for the metropolitan area but somewhere south of the average for the town's well-connected movers and shakers.

Gender-wise, 12 of the 17 aides at the top salary level are men. The salary schedule shows that women and men who have similar job titles get similar pay.

Bush, in a salary set by lawmakers, gets $400,000 a year. Vice President Cheney's annual salary is $181,400.

Among those getting $157,000 a year at the White House are several people who came to Washington from Austin with Bush, including Dan Bartlett, assistant to the president for communications; Alberto Gonzales, McClellan; Harriet Miers, a former Dallas lawyer and Texas Lottery Commission chair now serving as a deputy chief of staff; Karl Rove, senior adviser; and Margaret Spellings, assistant to the president for domestic policy.

That list includes several who most likely were making far more money before they signed on for government service. For example, Miers was a managing partner in Dallas for the law firm of Locke Liddell & Sapp, a gig that probably was good for considerably more than $157,000 a year.