House Rules Chairman David Dreier is
funneling over $100,000 from the Rules Committee budget to his chief of staff, Brad Smith, with whom Dreier has lived. The unusual but legal salary scheme gives Smith more than twice the salary as any other Dreier staffer, and just $400 shy of the salary of Karl Rove, the highest-paid staffer in the White House. Smith's office salary is $50,600, while his collection from the Committee is $106,000, for a total annual salary of $156,600, the maximum possible salary for any committee staffer. Karl Rove makes $157,000.
By comparison, the chief of staff of the more powerful Appropriations Committee chair makes $100,696 and no money from the Committee. The chief of staff of the Judiciary Committee chair makes $126,000 but also no money from the Committee.