Days after the White House announced that it had ceased operations of its Council on Women and Girls, the Trump administration released data on its staff members' pay. The data showed that female staffers face a bigger gender pay gap than American women on average, as well as women who worked in the White House previously.
According to recently-released salary data, women working in the administration earn an average salary of 80 cents for every dollar that men earn. On average, women in the overall U.S. workforce make 82 cents on the dollar.
The disparity appears to be directly linked to the question of who works in the upper ranks of the White House staff. Out of the 22 staff members making the highest annual salary of $179,700, only six are women.
200 men and 177 women work as aides, advisers, and other staff members in the administration. Half of the men on President Trump's payroll earn at least $115,000 per year, while less than half half of the women make that amount or higher.
Data on former president Barack Obama's administration showed female staffers faring significantly better. Though still a troubling disparity, the Washington Post reported in 2014 that men in the White House earned a median salary that was 13 percent higher than women.
On average, the difference between male and female salaries in the general economy is 23.5 percent, and in the current White House it's 45 percent.
Earlier this year, Trump was criticized when he quickly announced he would revoke the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces executive order that Obama signed in 2014, requiring companies under federal contract to maintain transparency regarding employees' salaries.
