Top-paid federal employee leaving $16.8 million job — after first-term Trump warned ‘we’re getting rid of him’
President Trump had previously criticised the highest-paid federal employee in the US for being grossly overpaid - and now the CEO has abruptly quit.
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The highest earning government employee in the United States — who makes more than 20 times than the president’s remuneration — has abruptly quit his job.
Jeff Lyash is widely known as the highest-paid federal employee for his role as chief executive at the Tennessee Valley Authority, a federally owned electric utility corporation, raking in $US10.5 million ($A16.8 million) per year.
Mr Lyash announced his retirement on Friday local time, just 11 days after the return to office of President Trump, who during his first term slammed Lyash’s “ridiculous” pay and vowed to fire him.
“Sounds like Lyash got DOGE’d,” a senior administration official told The New York Post, referring to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative to rein in allegedly wasteful federal spending.
President Trump tore into Mr Lyash during the final year of the 45th presidency, saying in August 2020 that “we’re getting rid of him in one form or another. Either the board’s gonna do it, or we’re gonna do it, but he’s gone.”
Trump said at the time that Lyash should have been earning “no more than $500,000 a year” and should not get a “lavish” exit package.
By law, the president earns $US400,000 annually, in addition to a $US50,000 allowance for expenses. Members of Congress receive a yearly salary of $US174,000.
The then-president, responding to a question from The Post, said that Mr Lyash was grossly overpaid for his role leading the federally owned utility, which is a legacy of New Deal infrastructure projects.
A TVA representative denied that Mr Lyash was departing either in response to or to get ahead of pressure from Trump’s team after six years in the job.
“The answer is no,” spokeswoman Melissa Greene told The Post. “When Jeff was hired in 2019, he told the TVA Board of Directors that he would let them know when he was seriously considering retirement. Jeff kept his word, beginning those conversations with the Board last fall.”
In his good-bye message, Lyash wrote: “While I’m looking forward to my next chapter, spending more time with family, grandchildren, and friends, I will miss our TVA team and the relationships we’ve built across this region.”
“The true strength of TVA is its people – an experienced and passionate workforce who work every day to make a difference,” Lyash added.
Salary criticised
“That is the greatest job in the history of government almost, certainly if you’re into money … I’ve been waiting for somebody to ask me about that, it’s been bothering me for a long time,” Trump said at a briefing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The TVA manages hydroelectric dams and nuclear power plants.
Other TVA employees are also earning top dollar — with chief financial officer John Thomas raking in $6.3 million a year, chief operating officer Don Moul earning $5 million, general counsel David Fountain making $3.3 million and chief nuclear officer Tim Rausch taking home $3.3 million, according to a November report from the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Criticism of TVA salaries has been bipartisan, with politician Steve Cohen, a Democrat in Tennessee, telling The Post in 2020 that Lyash’s pay was “out of line for a public agency.”
“Many (TVA executives) make over a million dollars running an agency set up to render energy and aid to a poor region in our country that still suffers economically in many areas,” Cohen said.
“This makes the out-of-line salaries even more distasteful. This has been wrong for decades and those salaries should be considerably reduced, particularly at this time.”
Lyash’s subordinates defended his compensation by noting that utility executives often get seven- or eight-figure hauls.
This story originally appeared in The New York Post and was reproduced here with permission.
Originally published as Top-paid federal employee leaving $16.8 million job — after first-term Trump warned ‘we’re getting rid of him’
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