Twenty-two of PresidentBarack Obama'stop advisers make the top White House salary of $172,200 per year - but there is one official who earns 30 percent more.
It's not Chief of Staff Denis McDonough. Not Obama's senior adviser and close friend Valerie Jarrett. Not Cecilia Munoz, who is overseeing White House efforts on immigration reform, nor Lisa Monaco, who advises Obama on homeland security and counterterrorism.
The best-paid person of the 460 people who work at the White House is Seth Wheeler, a senior adviser at the National Economic Council, who is crafting Obama's strategy on housing finance.
One of the newest appointees, Wheeler earns $225,000, according to the annual White House report on its $37.9 million payroll released on Friday.
Wheeler has been detailed to the role from the Federal Reserve where the pay scale is higher, a White House official explained.
It also means he earns more than his boss, Gene Sperling, the director of the National Economic Council, who earns the White House limit of $172,200.
At the Fed, Wheeler was chief of staff for the Office of Financial Stability Policy and Research.
He is an ex-Morgan Stanley banker who worked for former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson during the Bush Administration, and was a key architect with the Obama administration's mortgage modification program, helping craft the signature housing aid program known as the Home Affordable Modification Program.
"His pay reflects the anomaly of the Fed pay scale," said Phillip Swagel, who served in the Treasury Department under President George W. Bush.
"It is noteworthy that the NEC is pretty political so it's fascinating that they have a Fed employee in a political position," Swagel said.
Federal employees who work for banking regulators, including the Fed, have higher pay scales than employees of other federal departments, said Julia Gordon, director of housing finance and policy at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.
"I'm sure if he went back toMorgan Stanley, he'd be making 10 times that," Gordon said.
Wheeler replaces Jim Parrott, who had been detailed to the White House from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and earned $144,385 last year. Parrott left the White House in January, and recently joined the Urban Institute.
Wheeler's salary approaches that of Vice President Joe Biden, who this year is poised to earn $230,700. Obama's salary is $400,000.
HOUSING SYSTEM 'IN SHAMBLES'
The housing advisor position has been held by four different people during the Obama administration, punctuated by lengthy vacancies between advisers, said Gordon, who hopes the White House now begins to takes a more active role on the issue.
"Our housing system is still in shambles," Gordon said.
"Just because people hear that prices are going back up doesn't mean we've fixed anything. A lot of the underlying problems are still there."
One of the key issues is reforms for mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were seized by the government in 2008 as the housing crisis threatened their solvency.
The companies own or guarantee half of all U.S. mortgages and have been propped up with $187.5 billion in taxpayer funds.
Democrats and Republicans want to reduce the government's role and put more of the risk of lending onto the private sector, but they disagree on how far to go.
据英国路透社6月28日报道，美国总统奥巴马的22位高级顾问年薪17.22万美元，在白宫里薪资算顶级水平，但有一位官员的薪资比这还高30%。
这个人不是白宫办公厅主任丹尼斯•麦克唐纳；不是奥巴马的高级顾问兼密友瓦莱丽•贾勒特；不是白宫移民改革计划监察员塞西莉亚•穆诺茨，也不是总统国土安全及反恐事务顾问莉萨•莫纳科。
白宫460人中收入最高的是美国国家经济委员会高级顾问赛斯•惠勒，他负责制定奥巴马的住房金融政策。6月28日发布的白宫年度报告晒出了3790万美元工资单，其中惠勒的工资是22.5万美元。
白宫官员解释称，惠勒是从美联储调过来的，那里的工资标准更高。
这也意味着惠勒比自己的上司吉恩•斯珀林挣得还多。斯珀林是美国国家经济委员会主任，年薪17.22万美元，为白宫最高工资。
此前，惠勒在美联储担任金融稳定政策与研究办公室主任。他是前摩根斯坦利的银行家，在布什政府时期，他为美国前财政部长汉克•鲍尔森工作。他还是奥巴马政府抵押贷款协议修改计划的关键起草者，帮助制定了住房可偿付调整计划。
“他的薪资反映了美联储薪酬标准的特殊性。” 小布什政府时期在财政部任职的菲利普•施瓦格说：“值得注意的是，美国国家经济委员会政治性很强。让一位美联储职员从事政治工作，这非常有趣。”
自由派智库，美国进步中心住房金融与政策主任戈登称，在银行业监管部门工作的美国联邦雇员，包括美联储，享有的工资标准比其他部门要高。“我敢肯定，惠勒若回摩根史坦利工作，挣的会是这里的10倍。”
惠勒的前任是吉姆•帕罗特。帕罗特从美国住房和城市发展部调至白宫，去年年薪为14.4385万美元。他今年1月离开白宫，最近进入了美国城市研究所（Urban Institute）。
惠勒的工资接近美国副总统乔•拜登的工资。拜登今年将拿到23.07万美元，奥巴马年薪则是40万美元。
戈登称，在奥巴马执政期间，有四人担任过住房顾问，每位顾问轮换期间职位长时间闲置。他希望白宫从现在开始在住房问题上发挥更积极的作用。
“我们的住房系统依旧一团糟。”戈登说道。 “不要因为人们听到房价回涨就以为问题解决了。很多潜在问题依然存在。”
关键问题之一是改革住房抵押贷款融资公司房利美和房地美。因次贷危机导致他们无力偿债，2008年美国政府接管了这两家公司。房利美和房地美承担了美国一半住房贷款，政府接管以来接受了1875亿的政府援助。
民主党和共和党想削减政府作用，把更多的借贷风险放在私营部门，但双方在削减的程度上仍存争议。