John Byrne

The top pay for senior White House aides, including Chief of Staff Andrew Card, Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove and Legislative Affairs Director Candida Wolff, mushroomed to $261,000 at the beginning of July, according to a list sent to Congress and obtained by National Journal, RAW STORY can reveal.

Democrats raised the issue on the Democratic Congressional Campaign website Wednesday morning. "Long live the era of personal responsibility!" they wrote. Rove and Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff Scooter Libby both got raises; each has been questioned by a grand jury about their role in the outing of a covert CIA operative.

"The top salary, paid to 19 aides, is up $4,000 from last year, barely matching the annual inflation rate," penned National Journal reporter Alexis Simendinger. "At the low end of the pecking order, some young staff assistants and correspondence aides earn $30,000 for the honor of sitting on the fringes of history."

The Journal continues:

"Others among President Bush's highest paid advisers are Claude Allen, head of domestic policy; Counselor Dan Bartlett; Jack Crouch, deputy at the National Security Council; Nicolle Devenish, who succeeded Bartlett as head of communications; Michael Gerson, assistant for policy and strategic planning; Stephen Hadley, head of the NSC; Joe Hagin, deputy chief of staff; Al Hubbard, National Economic Council director; and Brett Kavanaugh, White House staff secretary."

"Also compensated as assistants to Bush are I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, chief of staff to the vice president; Scott McClellan, press secretary; William McGurn, chief speechwriter; Harriet Miers, White House counsel; Jim Towey, director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives; Fran Townsend, homeland security and counter-terrorism director; and Liza Wright, the new head of presidential personnel.

Bush's top paid advisers follow -- those making $261,000.

The full list is at The National Journal. By law, the White House is obliged to send a list to Congress each year for the salaries of their staff. The President's salary is $400,000.

#

Allen Claude A. $261,000 Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy

Bartlett Daniel Joseph $261,000 Counselor to the President

Card, Jr. Andrew H. $261,000 Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff

Crouch II Jack D $261,000 Assistant to the President & Deputy National Security Advisor

Devenish Nicolle $261,000 Assistant to the President for Communications

Gerson Michael J $261,000 Assistant to the President for Policy and Strategic Planning

Hadley Stephen J $261,000 Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

Hagin Joseph $261,000 Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff

Hubbard Allan B $261,000 Assistant to the President for Economic Policy & Dir, NEC

Kavanaugh Brett M $261,000 Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary

Libby I. Lewis $261,000 Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the Vice President

McClellan Scott K. $261,000 Assistant to the President and Press Secretary

McGurn William J. $261,000 Assistant to the President for Speechwriting

Miers Harriet E. $261,000 Counsel to the President

Powell Dina H $261,000 Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel

Rove Karl C. $261,000 Assistant to the President, Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor

Towey H. James II $261,000 Assistant to President and Director of Faith-based and Community Initiatives

Townsend Frances Fragos $261,000 Assistant to President for Homeland Security and Counter Terrorism

Wolff Candida P. $261,000 Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs

Originally published on Wednesday July 27, 2005.