Dr. Anthony Fauci is the highest paid among all four million federal employees – including the leader of the free world.
Fauci, 80, raised $ 417,608 in 2019, the last year for which the data is available, Forbes reported.
The face of the White House coronavirus task force under former President Trump, Fauci will have earned $ 2.5 million in salaries from 2019 to 2024 if he remains President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor, reported the agency.
And that doesn’t even explain a possible increase he could get during that period.
Between 2010 and 2019, the top infectious disease specialist in the U.S. earned $ 3.6 million in salary, according to the news agency, which cited data collected by OpenTheBooks.com through Freedom of Information Act requests.
Since 2014, his salary has increased from $ 335,000 to the current $ 417,608, which is $ 17,608 more than the presidential salary, Forbes reported.
Actor Matthew McConaughey asked Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in an Instagram interview on August 13, 2020 if he had millions of dollars invested in vaccines.
“Matthew, no, I found zero! I am a civil servant. I have a government salary, Fauci replied, laughing, but avoided mentioning his earnings, the largest of the entire federal government.
The study cited by Forbes included only federal employees whose salaries were paid by taxpayers.
Vice President Mike Pence, who chaired the coronavirus task force, earned $ 235,100 in salary in 2019, according to the report. Dr. Deborah Birx, the former White House coronavirus response coordinator, won $ 305,972 in 2019.
Other notables whose salaries are well below Fauci’s include mayor Nancy Pelosi, who will earn $ 223,500 this year; Supreme Court President John Roberts, who will win $ 270,700; and members of Congress, who earn $ 174,000.
Four-star military generals earn $ 268,000 a year, the report said.
Fauci, who has a medical degree from Cornell University, began his 53-year career at the National Institute for Health in 1968.
He took up his position as director of NIAID in 1984 and advised all presidents since Ronald Reagan, although he works directly under NIH chief Francis Collins.
The principal doc qualifies for a full federal pension and social security under federal pension reform rules prior to 1984.