White House communications director Kate Bedingfield and press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre are among the highest-paid Biden administration staffers at $180,000 per year, according to the White House’s just-released 2022 Annual Report.
Since 1995, the White House been required to report its staff salaries to Congress; President Joe Biden has made that information public.
Together, the press and communications teams represent a multimillion-dollar payroll, with top salaries just below only that of Stephanie Sykes, director of intergovernmental affairs for infrastructure implementation, at $183,100.
No. 2 on the press payroll is assistant press secretary Alexandra Lamann at $153,434.
Also on the press side of the ledger is Lucas Acosta, director of broadcast media, at $100,000. He is responsible for the White House’s broadcast media strategy, which includes booking administration members on cable news shows and other media outlets as well as broadcast.
Deputy press secretaries Andrew Bates and Christopher Meagher come in at $110,000, which is matched by Michael Larosa, press secretary to First Lady Jill Biden, followed by Brianne Moore, director of presidential press advance, with $100,000, and Abdulla Hassan and Kevin Munoz, assistant press secretaries, at $80,000.
There are also a handful of press assistants who make $62,500 apiece.
On the communications side, after Bedingfield comes Rachel Thomas, senior communications adviser for policy, at $163,333; followed by Elizabeth Alexander, communications director for the First Lady, at $155,000.
Next comes Dorinda Salcido, director for strategic communications and external engagement for the COVID-19 response, at $130,000. Katherine Berner, special deputy director of communications, comes in at $110,000, the same as Subhan Cheem, deputy director for external engagement and strategic communications for the COVID-19 response.
Zev Karlin-Neumann, speechwriter and communications adviser to the Domestic Policy Council, makes $100,000, while Kelsey Donohue, deputy communications director; Matthew Hill, senior association communications director; and Rykia Dorsey, senior regional communications director, all made $80,000 per year. ■
