Biden’s White House Hires Majority Women, Narrows Gender-Pay Gap

(Bloomberg) -- More than half of the White House staff appointed by President Joe Biden are women and there's near parity in salaries between genders, according to an administration report released Thursday.

As of Thursday, 60% of Biden's White House appointees are female, according to a fact sheet accompanying a report to Congress that details the names, titles and salaries of employees. There is a narrow gender pay gap, with women earning an average of $93,752 and men earning $94,639 -- a difference of about 1%, which the White House called “roughly equal.”

The small difference in pay marks a sharp contrast with Donald Trump's White House, where men's salaries outweighed women's by tens of thousands of dollars. In the 2020 Trump report to Congress, women made 31% less than men, according to The 19th, a news website. In the final years of the Obama administration, women earned between 11% and 18% less than men.

Biden's White House said it has created a “pay band” structure that ensures that people hired at the same level are paid the same regardless of race and gender.

Among the White House's senior staff, 56% are female and 36% are from racially or ethnically diverse backgrounds. Overall, 44% of the administration's White House appointees have racially or ethnically diverse backgrounds, better than the 38.4% in the overall U.S. labor force, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2009, the first year of the Obama administration, 21% of White House staff were reported to be people of color, and 58% were male.

In Biden's White House, 22 people are earning the maximum salary of $180,000 and 13 of them are women. Those making that salary include Chief of Staff Ron Klain, Press Secretary Jen Psaki, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, Domestic Policy Council Director Susan Rice, and senior advisers Neera Tanden and Mike Donilon.

Two others detailed to the White House from other agencies, broadband policy adviser Elizabeth Hone and immigration policy adviser Molly Groom, are each reported to be earning a few thousand dollars more than the White House cap.

The two smallest salaries reported belong to Gene Sperling, the American Rescue Plan coordinator, and Jeff Zients, the Covid-19 response coordinator, who are each making $36,000. Dozens of others, in staff assistant positions and other junior-level jobs, are paid $48,000 annually.