Executive Schedule


Executive Schedule is the system of salaries given to the highest-ranked appointed officials in the executive branch of the U.S. government. The president of the United States appoints individuals to these positions, most with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. They include members of the president's Cabinet, several top-ranking officials of each executive department, the directors of some of the more prominent departmental and independent agencies, and several members of the Executive Office of the President.
There are five pay rates within the Executive Schedule, denoted with a Roman numeral with I being the highest level and V the lowest. Federal law lists the positions eligible for the Executive Schedule and the corresponding level. The law also gives the president the ability to grant Executive Schedule IV and V status to no more than 34 employees not listed.
Certain job titles tend to be placed at certain levels of the Executive Schedule. For example, in the executive departments, Secretaries are on Level I; deputy secretaries are on Level II; under secretaries are mostly on Level III; and assistant secretaries, general counsels, inspectors general, chief financial officers, and chief information officers are mostly on Level IV. The directors of departmental and independent agencies vary widely in their placement, and are represented in every level from I to V, with their subordinates being placed on levels below them. A few agencies have general counsels, inspectors general, chief financial officers, or chief information officers on Level IV along with their departmental counterparts, although agency officials with these titles may instead be on another pay scale such as the Senior Executive Service.

Calculation of pay rate

Level I$219,200
Level II$197,300
Level III$181,500
Level IV$170,800
Level V$160,100

Many political appointees have had their pay rate frozen at lower levels. According to, at the beginning of the first pay period for any position under the Executive Schedule, the amount of pay will be adjusted and rounded to the nearest multiple of US$100. If this amount is found to be midway between multiples of $100, then it will be rounded to the next highest multiple of $100.
Section 738 of division E of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, continued the freeze on the payable pay rates for certain senior political officials at 2013 levels through January 5, 2019. The failure to enact new appropriations legislation may allow the freeze to expire. However, the officially established and posted pay rates for 2018 are in effect and used for determining pay for other employees. For more information, please see Compensation Policy Memorandum 2018-08 at https://chcoc.gov/content/continued-pay-freeze-certain-senior-political-officials-2.
Executive Schedule rates indirectly affect the rates of pay for other pay scales such as the General Schedule, Senior Executive Service, Senior Level, Senior Foreign Service, and other federal civilian pay systems, as well as the pay of uniformed military personnel, because various federal laws establishing those pay systems normally tie the maximum amount payable to various levels of the Executive Schedule. For example, no one paid on the General Schedule may earn more than the rate for Level IV of the Executive Schedule. Because of these pay caps and freezes to the Executive Schedule, federal workers at the top of their pay bands are often unable to receive pay increases, resulting in salary compression.

Level I

lists the positions that receive the amount of pay determined by Chapter 11 of Title 2. Since January 2018, the annual rate of pay for Level I is $210,700. There exist 21 positions, which are as follows:

Department secretaries

lists positions given the rank of executive schedule II. Deputy secretaries of cabinet-level agencies usually have this rank. Since January 2018, the annual rate of pay for Level II is $189,600. While not listed, the deputy secretary of commerce is also at Level II of the Executive Schedule. The 53 positions are:

Department deputy secretaries

Defense
Homeland Security
Transportation
Intelligence Community
Other independent agencies
lists 125 positions granted the rank of level III. Since January 2018, the annual rate of pay for Level III is $174,500. The positions are:

Department under secretaries

Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Homeland Security
Department of Justice
Department of Transportation
Department of the Treasury
Note: The Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision was level III before that office was abolished by the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010.

Executive Office of the President

Directors
Deputy directors
lists 346 non-obsolete positions with the rank of executive schedule level IV. Since January 2018, the annual rate of pay for Level IV is $164,200. The positions are:

Department assistant secretaries

Department of Agriculture
Department of Commerce
Department of Defense
Department of Education
Department of Energy
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Homeland Security
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Department of Justice
Department of Labor
Department of State
Department of Transportation
United States Agency for International Development
Other independent agencies
*
lists the 143 positions that receive the amount of pay determined by Chapter 11 of Title 2. Since January 2018, the annual rate of pay for Level V is $153,800. The positions are as follows:

Agency directors

Per, the president can at any time appoint no more than 34 individuals to pay rates Level IV and V, provided that they are viewed as a necessary change to organization, management responsibility, or workload within a specific agency. This figure is in addition to Level IV and V positions specifically authorized in the bill. However, Senate consent is required and the pay rate takes effect only upon a new appointment to that position. All actions taken during this process are to be published in the Federal Register, except when it is deemed that such publication would stand in conflict to national security. The president may not take action under this section with respect to a position, the pay for which is fixed at a specific rate by this subchapter, or by statute enacted after 14 August 1964.
The following positions are granted Level IV pay status of the Executive Schedule:
The following positions are granted Level V pay status: