http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123897383937190973.htmlBy JOHN D. MCKINNON
WASHINGTON -- Recently released financial records paint a contrasting picture of the Obama administration: a cabinet composed largely of politicians and government employees who have been on the public payroll for years, and a White House staffed with numerous aides who received substantial compensation over the past year from firms that could have a big stake in administration policies.
[Obama Team's Finances Released] Getty Images
HHS nominee Kathleen Sebelius.
The financial disclosures follow criticism by President Barack Obama and some of his officials that some financial firms have paid overly generous compensation to their top executives.
White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said Sunday that "the president searched the public and private sectors in order to find an experienced team that could bring change to Washington and get our economy back on track. Many of his advisers took large pay cuts and sold substantial assets in order to serve the president at this critical moment for our nation."
Well-paid White House staff include chief economic adviser Lawrence Summers. He earned about $5.2 million from hedge-fund firm D.E. Shaw & Co. in the past year, and received more than $2.7 million in speaking fees from financial firms and other groups.
Other White House staff members received generous payments from the private sector, too. National-security adviser James Jones reported $900,000 in salary and bonus from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as well as director fees from a number of corporations, including $330,000 from Boeing Co. and $290,000 from Chevron Corp.
His deputy, Tom Donilon, earned $3.9 million as a partner at the law firm O'Melveny & Myers LLP, where his clients included Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Obama fund-raiser and hotel heiress Penny Pritzker. Mr. Donilon was formerly a top official at government-backed mortgage finance company Fannie Mae, which has received large amounts of financial assistance from the U.S. government.
Carol Browner, assistant to the president for energy and climate change, disclosed $450,000 in "member distribution" income, plus retirement and other benefits, from The Albright Group, a consulting firm whose principals include former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Ms. Browner's financial disclosure indicates that she has resigned from the firm and will receive a $369,000 payout over three years, based on a longstanding company formula.
White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers collected more than $1 million for her work as president of two gas companies for part of 2008. Later, she earned a $350,000 salary from Allstate Financial as president of its social-networking division, and $150,000 in board fees from Equity Residential, a real-estate investment trust in which she also holds at least $250,000 in stock.
The 16-person Obama cabinet, by contrast, includes a large number of former governors and lawmakers who haven't made much more than their official salaries for years. Among them are Vice President Joe Biden, who had among the lowest net worth of any senator when he served in the U.S. Senate; Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, a former Federal Reserve official; and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, a former U.S. senator from Colorado and state attorney general. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was a former Iowa governor; Labor Secretary Hilda Solis was a member of Congress; and Kathleen Sebelius, the nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, is now governor of Kansas.
Others include housing secretary Shaun Donovan, a former New York City housing commissioner; Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a former congressman; Education Secretary Arne Duncan, a former Chicago schools head; and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, a former Arizona governor.
Some of Mr. Obama's cabinet members are financially well off, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, a former Washington governor and international trade lawyer. And many of the president's White House staff had relatively modest incomes before joining the White House staff.
One possible explanation for the predominance of former public servants in the cabinet is the greater ease they generally enjoy in gaining Senate confirmation; senior White House staff members typically don't require confirmation.
Mr. LaBolt, the White House spokesman, rejected that idea: "Not at all," he said.
Julian Zelizer, a history and public-affairs professor at Princeton University, said that in the midst of a financial crisis, the administration wants an inner circle of policy advisers "who can think and talk like Wall Street," whereas "for the cabinet, you want people who can sell ideas to the public and Congress, so governors and legislators are better for the job."
White House aides also must abide by strict rules against conflicts of interest. Mr. Summers, for example, has severed all ties to his former employer and would be barred from working on matters directly affecting D.E. Shaw, a senior administration official said, but he remains an active adviser on broad financial policies because of his depth of knowledge and experience.
Write to John D. McKinnon at john.mckinnon@wsj.com
