You’d think the person running the nerve center of the free world would be pulling in seven figures. Honestly, it's a fair assumption. They manage the President’s schedule, gatekeep every major meeting, and basically hold the most powerful "unelected" job in Washington. But the salary of white house chief of staff is actually capped by law, and the number might surprise you.
It isn't millions. It's not even half a million.
Currently, Susie Wiles, who took the reins in January 2025, is on the books for $195,200.
That’s it.
If you compare that to a C-suite executive at a Fortune 500 company, it's peanuts. Most tech mid-managers in Silicon Valley make more than the person handling the daily crises of the United States. Why? Because the federal government has a very rigid pay scale called the Executive Schedule. The Chief of Staff position is generally pegged to Level II of that schedule, which is where the salary ceiling sits for top-tier White House assistants.
Breaking Down the Numbers
Since we are in 2026, the pay landscape has shifted slightly due to annual adjustments. In 2024, under the previous administration, the top rate for senior assistants to the President was roughly $180,000. By 2025, that jumped to $195,200.
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For 2026, President Trump authorized a 1.0 percent across-the-board increase for statutory pay systems. While "detailees" (people borrowed from other agencies) can sometimes have higher "pass-through" salaries—like Jacalynne Klopp who was listed at over $225,000—the standard salary of white house chief of staff for a direct employee remains tied to these executive caps.
Think about the hours.
The stress.
The lack of sleep.
When you do the math, the hourly rate is kind of depressing. These folks work 15-hour days, seven days a week. If you break that $195,200 down by 100-hour work weeks, they’re basically making the same hourly rate as a specialized plumber in a big city. Of course, nobody takes this job for the cash. It’s about the power, the influence, and the massive book deal or lobbying gig that usually follows.
How it compares to the rest of the West Wing
The White House is a weird place where the "salary of white house chief of staff" is the same as about 20 other people. It’s very flat at the top.
- Susie Wiles (Chief of Staff): $195,200
- Stephen Miller (Deputy Chief of Staff): $195,200
- Dan Scavino (Deputy Chief of Staff): $195,200
- Karoline Leavitt (Press Secretary): $195,200
Basically, if your title starts with "Assistant to the President," you’ve hit the pay ceiling. It doesn't matter if you're the Chief of Staff or the Staff Secretary; the Treasury isn't authorized to cut you a bigger check.
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Meanwhile, the President is still making $400,000. That hasn't changed since 2001. The Vice President, J.D. Vance, is at roughly $235,100. So the Chief of Staff actually makes less than the VP, even though most D.C. insiders would tell you the Chief has a much more grueling daily workload.
The Pay Freeze Myth
You’ll often hear people complain that politicians and their staff are constantly giving themselves raises. In reality, White House salaries often stagnate for years because they are tied to political optics.
Congress has to approve the budget that allows for these cost-of-living adjustments. Sometimes, they freeze them just to make a point. For instance, for a long stretch in the 2010s, executive pay was almost completely flat. It's only recently that we've seen these jumps toward the $200k mark.
Honestly, the "real" compensation for a Chief of Staff happens after they leave. Rahm Emanuel, Leon Panetta, Mick Mulvaney—these guys didn't retire on their government pensions. They went into consulting, corporate boards, or cable news. That’s where the seven-figure checks finally show up.
Why the Salary Matters (and Why it Doesn't)
If we paid the Chief of Staff what they were worth on the open market, we’d be paying them $5 million a year. But the salary of white house chief of staff is intentionally kept modest to reflect the idea of "public service."
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- Retention is hard: When the private sector offers five times the pay, it's hard to keep talented people in the West Wing for four full years.
- The "Detailee" Loophole: Sometimes the White House brings in experts from the FBI or the State Department. These people keep their original agency salaries, which can actually be higher than the White House cap because of different pay scales or "special rates."
- The 2026 Shift: With the 1.0% increase this year, we are seeing the cap slowly crawl toward $200,000, but it’s unlikely to leapfrog the Vice President’s earnings anytime soon.
It’s a bizarre system. You have people managing a multi-trillion dollar economy who are worried about their mortgage in Northern Virginia because D.C. is incredibly expensive.
Practical Steps for Tracking These Figures
If you're looking to keep an eye on these numbers yourself, you don't have to guess. The White House is legally required to send an "Annual Report to Congress on White House Office Personnel" every year by July 1st.
You can find this on the official White House website or via databases like OpenTheBooks. It lists every single staffer by name, title, and exact salary. It’s one of the most transparent parts of the federal government, largely because taxpayers have a right to know who is on the payroll.
Check the 2025 report if you want to see the baseline for the current administration. The 2026 report will drop this coming July, and that's when we'll see exactly how the 1% increase and any new "special rate" designations have hit the actual paychecks in the West Wing.
If you're researching this for a career path, just remember: you don't go to the White House to get rich. You go to the White House so that later, someone will pay you to tell them how the White House works.