CV News Feed // The White House staff budget has exceeded $158.8 million during the first three years of the Biden administration, the largest White House payroll since 1971.
Joe Biden is the first president since Richard Nixon to employ over 500 employees on the White House payroll.
“Biden employs 108 more staffers than Trump (416) (FY2019) and 70 more than Obama (454) (FY2011) at the same point in their respective presidencies,” reported Adam Andrzejewski of OpenTheBooks.com.
Last year alone, the White House saw a 46% turnover rate. That means 220 employees from the previous year are no longer employed by the White House. This turnover is “27.8% higher than the 36% turnover in 2019, Trump’s third year,” Andrzejewski wrote.
Each year the White House is required to list the title and salary of every position on the White House payroll. This report shows that Biden “employs 115 special assistants to the president on policies ranging from ‘criminal justice and guns’ to ‘gender’ to ‘climate’ to, separately, ‘climate finance.’” These special assistants to the president receive salaries collectively totaling $12.8 million.
This increase of the White House payroll, while truly only taking up a small portion of the expansive federal budget, does have implications.
“The large Biden White House payroll had been a leading indicator of his commitment to expand the federal bureaucracy at all levels,” Andrzejewski pointed out. “In the first nine days of his presidency, Biden issued many executive orders expanding the size, scope, and power of the federal bureaucracy.”
While Biden officially declared the COVID-19 pandemic “over” in September 2022, the White House still retains 19 employees whose titles include “COVID.” Those titles include “Director of Economic Policy and Budget for the COVID-19 Response,” “Deputy Coordinator of the COVID-19 Response,” and 17 others. These COVID positions collectively receive over $2 million in salaries.
Unlike his predecessor, former President Trump, Biden does not donate his $400,000 budget to government agencies. Trump was the first president since John F. Kennedy that donated his salary.
In 2022, Jill Biden reportedly only had eight employees working for her. However, this year that number has grown to 20 staff members.
“Former First Lady Michelle Obama was heavily criticized for her 24-member staff in 2009 including assistants, advisors, schedulers, directors, deputies, associates, social and press secretaries, and other ‘helpers,’” wrote Andrzejewski.
Melania Trump employed between five and 12 staffers during her time in the White House.
Shockingly enough, the Biden administration numbers do not include those working on the payroll of Vice President Kamala Harris. Somehow, Harris is exempt from releasing payroll records.
