President Joe Biden’s economic policies may not be good for the vast majority of Americans, as inflation remains higher than normal and personal debt climbs.
But those policies aren’t an issue at his White House, where the payroll has skyrocketed during his term.
The number of people on the staff payroll has ballooned to 524 in his third year, up 50 personnel from year two, a report said on Thursday.
A major reason for the surge was a huge jump in the number of people on first lady Jill Biden’s staff.
The payroll numbers are attributable to the 2023 report to Congress regarding White House staff.
“The payroll figure is higher than last year’s total of 474, though lower than Biden’s first-year White House payroll of 560. However, the total payroll bill for 2023 still tops the $50,276,976 that made up White House salaries in 2021, according to OpenTheBooks, a nonprofit group that focuses on government spending,” The Western Journal reported.
The group reported that total payroll for the White House was between $52 million and $53 million.
In 2022, Jill Biden managed to operate with a modest team of only eight staff members. However, this year, the number of staff members increased to 20. Notably, among the newly added positions was a “social media platform manager” earning a salary of $113,039 annually, despite this role not being listed in previous years’ staff rosters, including the one released in 2021, The Western Journal noted.
“That means that out of the 50 more employees the White House has in 2023 compared to 2022, more than 20 percent of the growth has come from the 150 percent increase in Jill Biden’s staff. How many private employers grow their staff by 150 percent in one year?” the outlet added
During the third year of former President Donald Trump’s administration, the total White House payroll amounted to only 416 employees, as indicated by a report published on June 28, 2019. In comparison, the staff under former First Lady Melania Trump comprised a maximum of 12 individuals, which was slightly over half the size of Jill Biden’s current staff.
Although the salary data was made public almost two weeks ago, it gained renewed attention on Thursday due to an article by Olivia Murray in the American Thinker. The piece highlighted the highest-earning member of the White House staff, capturing readers’ interest once again.
That person is Demetre C. Daskalakis, “deputy coordinator for the monkeypox response,” with a salary of $260,718.