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Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from producer Raymond Rapada

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Since 1995, the White House has been required to deliver a report to Congress each year listing the title and salary of every White House Office employee. And every July, that report is made public.

The report takes salary transparency to a different level, with staffers pouring over it before gossiping about who got a raise and who didn’t; which special assistants make more than the standard $115,000; and which new staffers are coming into the job at a higher annual salary than their predecessors. (We won’t name names — you all can see for yourselves!)

“Everyone looks at it. And anyone who says they don’t is lying,” said one White House staffer.

The salary sheet is perceived by some staffers as a direct barometer of who has clout in the West Wing. But it’s also become a useful reference for those contemplating a jump from the private sector to the White House on what they can expect to make and how much they might have to tighten their budgets (if at all). It’s a particularly helpful resource at a time when there’s some natural turnover ahead of the election and positions need to be filled.

“There’s this push for the private sector to be more open about salaries during the hiring process, and in a sense we were already doing that, even if it’s just cause it’s congressionally mandated,” said a former White House staffer.

The best way to get a White House job and not take too much of a pay cut is counterintuitive: get hired first in a Cabinet agency and then get detailed to the White House. Detailees are loaned to the White House for a period of time and staffers can keep their agency salary, which is often higher than the more budget-conscious White House pay scale.

For example, the Biden White House caps salaries for senior officials at $180,000. The highest paid staffers in 2023 are detailees, with the highest earner, at $260,718, being DEMETRE DASKALAKIS, who helped lead the White House Monkeypox response team. That dynamic can lead to some awkwardness, with some detailees making significantly more than their peers and sometimes even more than their boss. (Just have them pick up the Tatte tab and it will all even out in the end.)

The salary report also provides some clues on other staff dynamics inside the West Wing. There are currently 28 “assistants to the president,” which is the top ranking post in the White House hierarchy. That’s an increase from 22 APs in 2022 and 21 in 2021. The jump in APs is mostly due to a handful of staff promotions (RYAN MONTOYA, JENNIFER KLEIN, VINAY REDDY, EMMY RUIZ, STEFANIE FELDMAN and EVAN RYAN were all given AP titles in the last year) — signaling an expansion of responsibility and trust among staffers who have been with the president since the start of the administration.

There are also 524 White House staffers in total, according to the 2023 report, a fair bit more than the 474 staffers in 2022 but still fewer than the 560 in 2021, which is when staff numbers increased largely to address the Covid pandemic.

Finally, there appear to be a few benevolent bosses who have taken pay cuts, presumably to free up some cash for other staffers since the number of highest salary spots are limited. White House chief of staff JEFF ZIENTS, the most powerful person inside the West Wing aside from the president, makes $168,000 instead of the full $180,000. To be fair … he doesn’t really need the money, but we’re sure the gesture is appreciated nonetheless!

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How old was President JIMMY CARTER when he met his wife ROSALYNN CARTER?

(Answer at bottom.)

If it’s Friday, it’s cartoon day! This one is by WARD SUTTON. Our very own MATT WUERKER publishes a carousel of cartoons from all over the country.

A STEP TO HELP SURVIVORS: Biden signed an executive order Friday broadening how the Pentagon handles sexual assault cases by giving power to independent military prosecutors rather than victims’ commanders, our MATT BERG reports. The effort implements provisions passed in last year’s National Defense Authorization Act and modernizes procedures that protect victims during and after court-martial proceedings. The actions fulfill the president’s “promise to fundamentally shift how the military justice system responds to sexual assault and related crimes, which is something President Biden has prioritized since Day One of this administration,” the White House said in a statement.

ON THE PROWL FOR SOME LOBSTAHHH: The president hit the road to visit Maine where he spoke with workers at Auburn Manufacturing Inc., in an effort to continue promoting his “Bidenomics” message. The trip came as he signed an executive order to boost research and development to support domestic manufacturing through incentivizing companies to develop products in the U.S. He mentioned JEFF STEIN’s piece in the Washington Post that Republicans may need to rethink attacks against him. “Republicans may have to find something else to criticize me for now that inflation is coming down,” Biden quipped. “Maybe they’ll decide to impeach me because it’s coming down. I don’t know. I’d love that one.”

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by the Washington Post’s ABHA BHATTARAI about how government investments in clean energy and infrastructure are helping grow the U.S. economy. Spending on manufacturing plants and transportation equipment recently increased by 56 percent, highlighting how Biden’s three major laws are fueling job growth despite interest rate hikes from the Fed. “As a result, many economists who predicted a recession this year now say the country appears poised to avoid a downturn,” Bhattarai writes. White House deputy press secretary ANDREW BATES tweeted this piece.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO LISTEN TO: This episode of Playbook Deep Dive featuring retired Gen. ARNOLD PUNARO, who criticized Sen. TOMMY TUBERVILLE’s (R-Ala.) military promotions blockade over the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy. “I have a huge problem with what Sen. Tuberville is doing. He’s a coward, in my book. He won’t even bring an amendment to the floor and get it voted on to change the policy,” Punaro said. Bates tweeted the episode, too.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by our HAILEY FUCHS, HOLLY OTTERBEIN and EUGENE DANIELS about how high-profile Democratic Party donors have yet to fully embrace Vice President KAMALA HARRIS’ place on the 2024 ticket. Although Harris routinely meets or exceeds fundraising goals, some donors remain reluctant to organize large events hosted by her. While Biden was never a strong fundraiser before bringing in a historic haul in 2020, Harris’ spot on the ticket has been a subject of debate by the party’s white and older donor class — a group that Black politicians feel hasn’t always been fully supportive of candidates.

[JIMMY BUFFETT VOICE] SWIPING AWAY AGAIN AT TOMMY TUBERVILLE: Biden used a speech on Thursday at the Truman Civil Rights Symposium as another opportunity to call out Tuberville’s hold on military promotions, describing the senator’s actions as “outrageous,” our LUCY HODGMAN reports.

“The Republican Party used to always support the military, but today they’re undermining the military,” Biden said. “The senior senator from Alabama, who claims to support our troops, is now blocking more than 300 military operations with his extreme political agenda.”

Tuberville pushed back against Biden on Twitter, saying his stance has not changed and urging supporters for donations in his fight against Democrats.

The delays aren’t stopping Biden from continuing to nominate military leaders. He tapped Gen. DAVID ALLVIN earlier this week to serve as Air Force chief of staff and picked DEREK CHOLLET to serve as the Pentagon’s top policy leader. With lawmakers traveling for August recess, Democrats have continued to attack Tuberville for potentially dragging the issue until their return in September, our CONNOR O’BRIEN, JOE GOULD, LARA SELIGMAN and PAUL McLEARY report.

THINK OF THE EARTH: The Biden administration on Friday released plans to implement changes to the National Environmental Policy Act that resulted from last month’s bipartisan debt ceiling, including instructing agencies to consider how certain proposed projects would impact climate change, our JOSH SIEGEL reports.

The White House Council on Environmental Quality will also now, for the first time, direct agencies to consider environmental justice to assess how communities have been affected by the long-term effects of pollution and industrial activity.

PROVIDING A PATHWAY: Certain migrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Haiti will now be eligible to be processed in Mexico for a refugee resettlement program that can provide a permanent pathway to U.S. citizenship, the White House announced Friday.

The decision was a product of discussions between U.S. officials, led by White House Homeland Security Advisor ELIZABETH SHERWOOD-RANDALL and Mexican President ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR. The move comes after the administration suffered a blow in its immigration efforts after a federal judge tossed out Biden’s asylum rule for migrants earlier this week.

Biden to run against MAGA in 2024, not just Trump (Axios’ Sophia Cai)

Facebook Bowed to White House Pressure, Removed Covid Posts (WSJ’s Ryan Tracy)

Three years old. Carter’s mother, LILLIAN CARTER, delivered Rosalynn and brought over 3 year-old Jimmy to come see the baby, according to Voice of America.

A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it!

Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.