Executive
Waste of the Day: Biden’s White House Is Lawyering Up
Joe Biden’s White House has more lawyers than even Barack Obama had when he left office. Why does he need so many lawyers?
Topline: Almost one in every 12 staffers at the White House this year is a lawyer, according to payroll data analyzed by auditors at OpenTheBooks.com. President Joseph Biden employs 45 attorneys, making a collective $6.3 million in salary.
Why does the Biden White House need all those lawyers?
Donald Trump had 30 lawyers in his final year as president, and Barack Obama employed 34 lawyers before leaving office.
Key facts: This years’ White House payroll includes attorneys with varying titles: “senior deputy associate counsel,” “senior ethics counsel” and similar variations.
There are seven other staffers that assist the White House counsel’s office, such as the “advisor to the White House deputy counsel” and a communications specialist.
The most highly compensated White House employee besides Biden himself is associate counsel Michelle Barrans, who is making over $251,000 this year. All of the other full-time lawyers make between $110,000 and $191,000.
The most expensive attorney on Trump’s White House payroll made only $180,000 — though since leaving office, Trump has spent over $100 million fighting personal legal battles.
Senior tax counsel Amanda Bartmann works with the IRS’ “national taxpayer advocate,” but she cost taxpayers over $167,000 in salary this year.
Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com.
Counsel’s office working on Biden’s image
Background: The White House counsel exists to advise the president on all legal issues related to his administration and policy agenda.
Lately, they’ve also been working to protect Biden’s public image.
In February, the White House counsel’s office asked special counsel Robert Hur to amend a legal report that said Biden’s memory “appeared to have significant limitations.”
In March, White House counsel Edward Siskel — who makes $180,000 — wrote a letter urging Speaker Mike Johnson to end an impeachment inquiry into the president. House Republicans have been investigating the president’s family’s business dealings but have not shown evidence of wrongdoing on Biden’s part.
Summary: Trump and Biden might not agree on much, but both have certainly learned to appreciate the value of a good lawyer.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by CEO & founder, Adam Andrzejewski, with Jeremy Portnoy. Learn more at OpenTheBooks.com.
This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.
Adam Andrzejewski (say: Angie-eff-ski) was the CEO/founder of OpenTheBooks.com. Before dedicating his life to public service, Adam co-founded HomePages Directories, a $20 million publishing company (1997-2007). His works have been featured on the BBC, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, C-SPAN, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, FOX News, CNN, National Public Radio (NPR), Forbes, Newsweek, and many other national media.
Today, OpenTheBooks.com is the largest private repository of U.S. public-sector spending. Mission: post "every dime, online, in real time." In 2022, OpenTheBooks.com captured nearly all public expenditures in the country, including nearly all disclosed federal government spending; 50 of 50 state checkbooks; and 25 million public employee salary and pension records from 50,000 public bodies across America.
The group's aggressive transparency and forensic auditing of government spending has led to the assembly of grand juries, indictments, and successful prosecutions; congressional briefings, hearings, and subpoenas; Government Accountability Office (GAO) audits; Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports; federal legislation; and much more.
Our Honorary Chairman - In Memoriam is U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, MD.
Andrzejewski's federal oversight work was included in the President's Budget To Congress FY2021. The budget cited his organization by name, bullet-pointed their findings, and footnoted/hyperlinked to their report.
Posted on YouTube, Andrzejewski's presentation, The Depth of the Swamp, at the Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar 2020 in Naples, Florida received 3.8 million views.
Andrzejewski has spoken at the Columbia School of Journalism, Harvard Law School and the law schools at Georgetown and George Washington regarding big data journalism. As a senior policy contributor at Forbes, Adam had nearly 20 million pageviews on 206 published investigations. In 2022, investigative fact-finding on Dr. Fauci's finances led to his cancellation at Forbes.
In 2022, Andrzejewski did 473 live television and radio interviews across broadcast, major cable platforms, and radio shows. Andrzejewski is the author of The Waste of the Day column at Real Clear Policy. The column is syndicated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, owners of nearly 200 ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX affiliates across USA.
Andrzejewski passed away in his sleep at his home in in Hinsdale, Illinois, on August 18, 2024. He is survived by his wife Kerry and three daughters. He also served as a lector at St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Church and finished the Chicago Marathon eight times (PR 3:58.49 in 2022).
Waste of the Day articles published after August 18, 2024 are considered posthumous publications.
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