The Executive Schedule (EX) is the
pay scale for the most high-ranking members of the
executive branch of the
federal government of the
United States of America. It applies to anyone who is nominated by the
president of the United States of America and confirmed by the
Senate: as of
2003, 220 people. Executives not subject to Senate approval are paid according to the
Senior Executive Service (ES), and
civil servants are paid according to the
General Schedule (GS).
There are five levels on the Executive Schedule:
- The seventeen secretaries of Bush's cabinet make $161,200 a year.
- The fifteen deputy secretaries make $145,100 a year.
- The fifty-one undersecretaries, presidential advisors, and major agency administrators make $133,700 a year.
- The 128 assistant secretaries, deputy undersecretaries, and general counsels make $125,700 a year.
- Nine commissioners, directors, and deputy assistant secretaries make $117,600 a year.
The EX system was significantly downsized by the Bush administration: during the Clinton administration, it paid nearly five hundred people.