Meet the 22 highest-paid White House staffers, who bring in $183,000 a year or more

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Meet the 22 highest-paid White House staffers, who bring in $183,000 a year or more

Stephen Miller (C), White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney (L), and White House Social Media Director Dan Scavino

Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty

Mick Mulvaney, Stephen Miller and Dan Scavino.

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For those keeping the White House running smoothly or advising on matters of national security, a healthy pay check is probably expected.

On June 28, the White House released its report of salaries for 2019. Twenty staffers earn the top salary of $183,000 per year - and two actually earn more due to being detailies. In 2017 and 2018, for contrast, the highest-paid staffers made $179,700.

President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner both serve as advisers, but they don't take a salary. Trump earns $400,000 a year, but he has donated his paychecks to various executive branch departments.

Among those earning the most are familiar faces like national security adviser John Bolton, acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, and counselor Kellyanne Conway. But some of the staffers aren't household names.

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Here's the full list of the White House's highest-paid staffers.

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John S. Czwartacki, senior adviser to the chief of staff for strategy and stakeholder engagement: $239,595.

John S. Czwartacki, senior adviser to the chief of staff for strategy and stakeholder engagement: $239,595.

Meet the White House's most well paid staffer. John Czwartacki, 49, reports to acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, who is also the director of the Office of Management and Budget and was the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Czwartacki started as the director of communications at the the OMB in January 2017, and moved to head comms at the CFPB in April 2018.

He's had a long career in communications, beginning in 1992 when he became a press secretary for former House Speaker John Boehner. He later founded his own communications firm, Next Level Strategies, American Banker reported, and was also a director of communications for 9 years at Verizon.

Mick Mulvaney, acting chief of staff: $203,500.

Mick Mulvaney, acting chief of staff: $203,500.

John Michael "Mick" Mulvaney, 51, is also a detailee and is the second-highest paid staffer in the White House.

He has been in the White House since early 2017 after President Donald Trump nominated him to be director of the Office of Management and Budget in late 2016. Since 2019, he has also been the acting chief of staff. While the role isn't concrete, usually it involves managing the flow of staff and information, protecting the interests of the president, negotiating, and advising the president. According to Politico, it's "acting" in name only.

Mulvaney started out as a lawyer, before entering politics when elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2006. From 2011 to 2017, he served as a US House representative.

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Robert B. Blair, assistant to the president and senior adviser to the chief of staff: $183,000.

Robert B. Blair, assistant to the president and senior adviser to the chief of staff: $183,000.

There's not a lot of public information about Robert Blair, who currently advises Mulvaney. Before the White House, Blair was an associate director of national security programs at the Office of Management and Budget.

He's also worked as a staffer for a subcommittee and a regional adviser for the State Department's Office of International Health Affairs. Between 1994 and 1996, he was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa.

Blair, and the rest of the staffers on this list, all make $183,000.

John R. Bolton, assistant to the president for national security affairs: $183,000.

John R. Bolton, assistant to the president for national security affairs: $183,000.

John Bolton, 70, advises the president on national security, including dealings with Russia, Iran, and North Korea. According to CNN, he's Trump's "war whisperer." Bolton is a former ambassador to the United Nations, a Fox News commentator, and a hawkish expert on foreign policy.

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Andrew P. Bremberg, assistant to the president and senior adviser for domestic policy: $183,000.

Andrew P. Bremberg, assistant to the president and senior adviser for domestic policy: $183,000.

Andrew Bremberg, 40, advises the White House on domestic policy, but Trump has announced he intends to nominate Bremberg as the US ambassador to the United Nations.

He's been called Trump's "details guy," and is known for keeping a low profile. He arrives at his office at 7 a.m. every day and is often the last one out between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m., The Hill reported. Before the White House, Bremberg worked for a non-profit as a health policy analyst, and policy adviser for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Pasquale A. Cipollone, counsel to the president: $183,000.

Pasquale A. Cipollone, counsel to the president: $183,000.

Pasquale "Pat" Cipollone, 53, has been the White House counsel since late 2018. His role is to advise the president on any legal issues the administration faces. The president fondly calls him "Mr. Attorney," Politico reported.

According to Bloomberg, before entering the White House, Cipollone worked as a partner at two law firms, practising commercial litigation. He attended University of Chicago Law School and edited the University of Chicago Law Review. He clerked on the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and worked as an assistant for Attorney General William Barr.

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Kellyanne E. Conway, assistant to the president and senior counselor: $183,000.

Kellyanne E. Conway, assistant to the president and senior counselor: $183,000.

Before Kellyanne Conway, 52, was the president's senior counselor and the White House's highest-ranking woman, she was Trump's campaign manager.

Conway was the first woman in history to lead a successful US presidential campaign and she's one of the longest surviving advisers in the administration. In the White House, she advises the president, tweets a lot, and makes television appearances to defend the administration. Before working for President Trump, Conway ran a political polling business for 22 years.

Emma K. Doyle, assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff: $183,000.

Emma K. Doyle, assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff: $183,000.

Emma Doyle has been the right-hand woman to the president's right-hand man since early 2019.

Previously, she worked twice for Mick Mulvaney when he was Director of the Office of Management and Budget and before that when he was a member of the House of Representatives. She also worked as a relations manager for Ford Motors and a legislative staffer for Sen. Pat Toomey.

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Jason D. Greenblatt, assistant to the president and special representative for international negotiations: $183,000.

Jason D. Greenblatt, assistant to the president and special representative for international negotiations: $183,000.

Jason Greenblatt, 53, assists the president with international negotiations and trade deals, including being Trump's top envoy in the Middle East.

He has been close with the president for a while. Before joining the White House, he was executive vice president and chief legal officer of the Trump Organization for 20 years, The Washington Post reported. Before that he'd worked as a real estate lawyer, with a brief interlude running a cappuccino company, before Starbucks took over the market.

Stephanie A. Grisham, assistant to the president and press secretary: $183,000.

Stephanie A. Grisham, assistant to the president and press secretary: $183,000.

Stephanie Grisham, born in 1977, is now lead public spokesperson for both the first lady and the president. She made headlines after becoming the White House press secretary when she was bruised from pushing North Korean officials to make room for American journalists covering a meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

She first worked for the president as a press aide during his campaign in 2015, Fortune reported. Before that, she was a spokesperson for AAA Arizona and Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

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Joseph J. Grogan, assistant to the president and director of the domestic policy council: $183,000.

Joseph J. Grogan, assistant to the president and director of the domestic policy council: $183,000.

Joseph "Joe" Grogan was appointed to his position in early 2019.

According to LinkedIn, he has a background in health having previously worked for the Health and Human Services Department, the Food and Drug Administration, and the president's advisory council on HIV and AIDs. He's also worked as a lobbyist for Gilead Sciences, Politico reported.

Lawrence A. Kudlow, assistant to the president for economic policy: $183,000.

Lawrence A. Kudlow, assistant to the president for economic policy: $183,000.

Lawrence "Larry" Kudlow, 71, is the president's top economics man. Before his role at the White House, he privately advised the president and, according to NBC, Trump sometimes publicly thanked him during his presidential run, using Kudlow's name to validate his policies.

Kudlow also worked on Wall Street, advised the Reagan administration on budget policy, and was a frequent senior contributor to CNBC, according to NBC.

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Derek S. Lyons, assistant to the president and staff secretary: $183,000.

Derek S. Lyons, assistant to the president and staff secretary: $183,000.

Derek Lyons' main role is helping to decide what information makes it into the president's hands for review. He began working at the White House in 2017 as deputy assistant to the president and deputy staff secretary before being promoted to staff secretary in February 2018.

Before the White House, Lyons was general counsel for Sen. Rob Portman after working as a senior litigator in Washington, focusing on cases involving federal regulatory agencies.

Stephen Miller, assistant to the president and senior advisor for policy: $183,000.

Stephen Miller, assistant to the president and senior advisor for policy: $183,000.

Stephen Miller, 33, has been with the president since his 2016 campaign when he joined as a senior policy adviser. He has written speeches for Trump, including his first State of the Union address. He was also a senior policy advisor for then-Sen. Jeff Sessions, and before that he was a press secretary for two Republican representatives.

Business Insider has an explainer on how he became Trump's "right-hand policy man."

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Peter K. Navarro, assistant to the president for trade and manufacturing policy: $183,000.

Peter K. Navarro, assistant to the president for trade and manufacturing policy: $183,000.

Economist Peter Navarro, 69, has been with the White House since Trump's inauguration.

He has a Ph.D in economics from Harvard University and is a professor emeritus at the University of California, Irvine. According to the White House, his role is to "defend and serve American workers and domestic manufacturers." Prior to the White House, Navarro was a financial market analyst for multiple media outlets.

Brooke L. Rollins, assistant to the president for strategic initiatives: $183,000.

Brooke L. Rollins, assistant to the president for strategic initiatives: $183,000.

Brooke Rollins entered the White House after working closely with Jared Kushner on applying "private sector solutions to the nation's problems," The Daily Beast reported, which is what she does now within the administration.

Before that, Rollins served on Trump's economic advisory committee and was president and CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a criminal justice thinktank she'd run since 2002. She has also worked as deputy general counsel and policy director to then-Gov. Rick Perry.

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Sarah H. Sanders, former assistant to the president and press secretary: $183,000.

Sarah H. Sanders, former assistant to the president and press secretary: $183,000.

Sarah Sanders, 36, became the White House's press secretary in July 2017, although she had filled in for former press secretary Sean Spicer on and off for several months before that.

Since taking over, daily press briefings ceased to occur, and when she resigned in June, 90 days had passed between briefings. Sanders was known for her clashes with the media.

Dan J. Scavino, assistant to the president and senior adviser for digital strategy: $183,000.

Dan J. Scavino, assistant to the president and senior adviser for digital strategy: $183,000.

43-year-old Dan Scavino's role for the president involves assisting him with his social media presence.

He has been working with the president since 1990 when he was Trump's golf caddie. During Trump's presidential campaign Scavino was appointed director of social media. Upon election Scavino became the White House's director of social media. Before that he managed one of Trump's golf courses.

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Mercedes V. Schlapp, assistant to the president and senior advisor for strategic communications: $183,000.

Mercedes V. Schlapp, assistant to the president and senior advisor for strategic communications: $183,000.

Mercedes Schlapp, 46, joined the White House in September 2017 and has helped the White House with its communications.

On July 1, 2019 it was announced Schlapp would be leaving the White House to help with the president's re-election campaign. Before the White House she worked for George W. Bush's presidential campaign and was a columnist for several news outlets as well as a Fox News contributor.

20 - 22. John A. Eisenberg, Charles G. Kupperman, and Daniel P. Walsh: $183,000.

20 - 22. John A. Eisenberg, Charles G. Kupperman, and Daniel P. Walsh: $183,000.

John A. Eisenberg, deputy counsel to the president for national security affairs and legal adviser to the national security council

According to a White House announcement, John Eisenberg, who now plays a large role in US security, was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis law firm before joining the White House. Between 2004 and 2009, he served at the Department of Justice mostly on matters security and intelligence. He graduated from Yale Law School in 2001.

Charles G. Kupperman, assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser

Kupperman, 68, has advised the president on national security matters since early 2019. On hiring, John Bolton said in a statement that Kupperman's expertise in defence, arms control, and aerospace would help national security. Kupperman previously worked as an executive for Boeing and Lockheed Martin and served in a number of roles in the Reagan administration, including NASA and the Executive Office of the President.

Daniel P. Walsh, assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff for operations

Walsh replaced Joe Hagin in 2018. He previously served as deputy assistant to Trump and director of the White House Military Office.

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