Checks and Balances

Ever wonder how much money you'd make if you worked in the White House? Slate's Christopher Beam explains who decides how much the president's staffers get paid:

There's no rule for how many assistants a president can have: Obama has 22; George W. Bush had 18. In general, anyone with regular access to the president who is not a secretary gets an assistant title. Within each category—except the top one—there's some salary flexibility. For example, the director for African-American media makes $13,000 more than the director for Hispanic media. Some staff assistants make $36,000, while others make $41,000.

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