Dr. Anthony Fauci is set to rake in the highest-ever federal government retirement package in U.S. history with his annual payment exceeding $350,000, according to a Forbes estimate.
The White House’s top COVID adviser, who is 81, has shown no indications that he will retire any time soon after 55 years as a federal employee. Since 1984, Fauci has served as the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health.
If he retired today, Fauci would still earn $350,000 per year on retirement and his pension and benefits would continue to increase with cost-of-living adjustments, auditors at OpenTheBooks.com found in the Forbes review.
In 2019, Fauci had a salary of $417,608 and in 2020 was bumped to $434,312 – giving him two consecutive years of being the highest compensated federal employee. Fauci even out-earned the president, four star generals and the rest of his roughly 4.3 million colleagues in the federal government.
As president, Joe Biden, 79, earns $400,000 annually.
Information has not yet been released for Fauci’s 2021 salary, but Forbes filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to receive all financial disclosures, which a federal judge required be produced starting February 1, 2022.
The Office of Personnel Management notes that federal employees with such a lengthy service like Fauci can retire and still earn 80 per cent of their average salary from the last three salaries they earned – plus any credit they have left for sick leave that wasn’t taken.
Using 2018, 2019 and 2020 salaries, which equates to $1.252 million in earnings over three years, Fauci would have started raking in an 80 per cent pension payment of $333,745 if he had retired at the end of 2020.
In this calculator Forbes also factored in a cost-of-living increase through the three years.
Since Fauci’s 2021 and 2022 salaries are still unknown – but likely similar or slightly higher – it’s safe to say his retirement pay should he choose to end his tenure soon would be closer to $347,500 or higher.
(Excerpt) Daily Mail
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