President Obama disappointed federal employees hoping for a good-size raise to help them cope with this recession-stricken economy when he announced this week that he’d cap pay increases at 2 percent for federal employees. In justifying his decision to limit the wage hikes, Obama invoked a “national emergency” clause. If Obama had not made the declaration, federal salaries would have risen an average of 18.9 percent, adding more than $20 billion to the federal budget.
What does this mean for Obama and his staff? And how do their salaries compare with other figures in the political world? Here’s a closer look (Obama officials in bold):
- Unofficial head of the Republican Party Rush Limbaugh — estimated at more than $50 million
- Conservative Fringe King Glenn Beck — $23 million, including $2 million from his TV show and $10 million from his radio show
- “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart — $14 million
- “Hardball” host Chris Matthews — Estimated at more than $2 million
- President Barack Obama — $400,000
- Vice President Joe Biden — $221,100
- U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts — $217,400
- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — $186,600
- Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn.: $174,000
- Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.: $174,000
- Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel; Senior Advisor David Axelrod; White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs — all $172,200
- South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford — $106,078
- Obama special assistant and “Body Man” Reggie Love — $102,000
- Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal — $95,000
- Todd Palin — $86,000 (Sarah Palin’s husband made this figure working in commercial fishing and through a part-time job as a BP oil production operator)
- White House executive assistant Ian Adams — $36,000 (the lowest salary in the White House)
- Typical U.S. House of Representatives page — $18,817
- New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg — $1 (Forbes estimates Bloomberg is worth in excess of $16 billion, so it’s not as if the fact that Bloomberg is forgoing the mayoral salary has put a huge dent in his financial portfolio)
- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — $0 (The Terminator does not accept the state’s $206,500 salary for presiding over California’s government)
