NYT: Mulvaney aides earning hefty salaries
Mick Mulvaney repeatedly criticized the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau priorities, but since taking the agency's helm last year, his senior aides have earned far more than standard government salaries, according to a report citing government records.
Posted — UpdatedThe New York Times reported CFPB documents show 219 of the agency's 1,600 employees earn more than $200,000 per year.
The highest pay rate for standard government employees is just shy of $135,000, although employees based in expensive areas like Washington receive a cost of living bump. Most members of Congress earn $174,000, and Cabinet secretaries earn as much as $208,000. Nationwide, the median salary is about $44,500, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which studies pay data.
Mulvaney has been at the forefront of efforts to cut government spending during his career in Congress and as President Donald Trump's budget director.
The bureau approved Mulvaney's chief of staff for a $259,500 salary, a CFPB document posted by the Times shows.
That's the highest salary rate allowed under the bureau's pay scale. CFPB employees can be paid at higher rates than their counterparts in other parts of government to lure talent into the agency, rather into lucrative positions at the banks and lenders the agency regulates.
The salary is also a significant pay raise for the aide. Kirsten Sutton Mork was previously staff director for Texas Republican Rep. Jeb Hensarling, where records compiled by the Congress-tracking website Legistorm show she earned about $167,000 last year.
Sutton Mork also earned substantially more than her predecessor, Leandra English, who is currently the bureau's deputy director, and sued the Trump administration over Mulvaney's appointment. English earned a $212,324 salary as chief of staff, according to the office of Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, which last year began a probe of her hire.
Government salaries can vary based on a number of factors, including an individual's experience.
A second aide received a human resources letter on his first day of work indicating his salary would be $220,000. The letter says that aide, Brian Johnson, is a senior adviser to Mulvaney.
Fewer than three weeks later, Johnson received a $19,000 raise. His new $239,595 salary was a substantial boost from the $167,000 he earned previously working on policy matters for the House Financial Services Committee, according to the government records compiled by Legistorm.
CFPB did not respond to requests for comment.
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