Bush’s White House: Low Pay and Secrecy

Now that President Bush is in his third week in the White House, it’s apparent that some of his old habits die hard. He continues to be unusually thrifty with his staff, to operate under a shroud of secrecy and to be something of a homebody.

Bush has talked about operating the White House with “humility,” which he has emphasized by providing his mid- and lower-level staffers with humble means. Republican staffers on the Hill are being asked to take pay cuts of a quarter to a third to go to the White House, several report.

One making $105,000 was offered $80,000 while another was asked to go from $100,000 to $70,000. Both declined. “I told them ‘Thanks but no thanks, you can’t afford me,’ ” said one.

It’s the same story farther down the ladder. An out-of-town GOP operative with several years’ experience was offered a salary “in the thirties, for what I would not deem entry level.”

Of course, nobody goes to the White House to get rich, at least not until they leave the place. Sacrifice comes with the job. But while it’s typical for those in the private sector to take a hit going into government, it’s unusual for the president to pay less than do members of Congress for similar jobs. “Almost everybody coming from the Hill is taking a decent pay cut,” one recruit said.

Bush, whose campaign proudly offered the stingiest salaries, may be paying less than earlier White House standards. Many hired just out of college are receiving the bargain-basement rate of $25,000, according to one administration official. Direct comparisons aren’t yet possible, but the Clinton White House had few at that level.

One low-level Bush aide learned she was being paid $2,000 less than the Clinton aide who had the same job. A Republican congressional aide told friends he turned down a job with the rank of deputy assistant to the president, the second-highest rank for White House officials, after he was offered about $50,000. Such jobs paid about $85,000 to $115,000 in the Clinton White House.

One possible explanation: The White House budget is fixed, and the very top advisors to Bush may be getting more than their counterparts under former President Clinton. Clinton, as part of his campaign promise to trim White House staff and costs, held aides to a top salary of $125,000. Bush made no such promise, and his aides, according to the House Committee on Government Reform, can be paid as much as $145,100. A Bush spokeswoman said everybody is under the $145,100 cap but declined to say by how much.

The spokeswoman declined to comment on pay levels or provide any specific salary information, and the White House hasn’t yet had to report salaries to Congress. “Since we’re not done staffing, it’s kind of hard for us to give you any accurate answer,” she said. “It would be premature to comment.”

That leads to the second familiar trait in the Bush White House: secrecy. The new administration is famously tight-lipped, funneling all public communication through White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer.

Fleischer, like most press secretaries, is becoming skilled at the art of saying little, but saying it expansively. Rarely does he offer the unhelpful “No comment.” Instead, he directs the questioner to ask somebody else, turning the press office into a veritable referral service.

“Let me refer you to State. . . . I would refer you to the CIA. . . . I’d refer you to the Department of Energy. . . . Let me refer you to DOT. . . . Let me refer you to Sen. Ashcroft’s spokeswoman. . . . I would refer you to the president’s energy policy. . . . I’d refer you to Mary Ellen. . . . I’m going to refer you to Margaret. . . . I’m going to refer you to State or DOD on that . . ..”

Among the institutions large and small to which Fleischer has referred reporters: “the Ashcroft team,” “Gordon Johndroe,” “the Senate,” “campaign statements,” “the National Archives,” “the law,” “Tuesday,” “what he said,” “legal counsel,” “the president’s words,” “a good broker” and simply “others.”

He routinely makes several referrals in his daily press briefings. His record is 10 in a single session Jan. 9. Pressed about an energy matter, Fleischer made his referral three times: “You know, I would refer you to his energy speech. . . . I’ll just refer you to it. Yeah, I’m going to refer you on this one.”

Most intriguing in that session were Fleischer’s vague referrals. “I don’t think I could refer you to anything hard or specific,” he said. Also: “I would have to refer you to somebody else to try to find that information.”

Sometimes Fleischer simply refers reporters to one another. Asked once about a Washington Post article about groups opposing some of Bush’s Cabinet nominees, Fleischer replied: “Well, I would refer you to those groups and to The Washington Post. . . .”

As the presidential campaign began early in 1999, Bush opted to stay home in Texas until later in the year. As a candidate, much was written about his fondness for days off, light schedules and a traveling pillow. So what’s Bush doing as president?

“I’ll answer some questions and I’m gonna head home and take a nap.” That’s what Bush said Sunday before addressing a retreat for Democratic House members in Pennsylvania. The remark confirmed a common stereotype about Bush, particularly compared with his peripatetic predecessor.

Unlike the omnipresent Clinton, Bush prefers the serenity within the White House. Since his inauguration, he has had five events fully open to the press. Clinton often held three or four in a week. Bush’s staff has demurred on the question of a news conference.

Where Clinton was effusive, Bush is contained. A weary Clinton spent six hours shaking hands with hordes of visitors, some uninvited, at a White House open house after his inauguration. Bush appeared only briefly at his open house with a carefully selected group of visitors. While Clinton at first plunged into a full range of issues, with little luck, Bush has met with more success limiting his agenda only to a few issues.

Then there’s the question of travel. Clinton, particularly late in his term, traversed the globe as if he were his own secretary of state. Bush has started more gingerly. His only travels outside the area so far have been helicopter rides to address gatherings of members of Congress. His first foreign trip will be a day trip: a visit to Mexico that will still allow him to sleep in his own bed at his Texas ranch.

Next comes a visit to Canada--if they let him in, that is. Canadian newspapers before the election raised the possibility that Bush, because of a 1976 drunk-driving conviction, could be denied entry to Canada. Not to worry, Canadian immigration officials assured: Bush could enter under a “ministerial permit.”