Will Kamala Harris be paid more than Donald Trump’s No 2, Mike Pence? 12 perks of the US vice-president including an armoured car, Air Force Two and the White House cinema – when Joe Biden isn’t using it
The likes of Al Gore and even Dan Quayle got a good salary – now US$235,000 – Secret Service protection, a staff of aides and the casting vote in the Senate
From access to Air Force Two to calling the vice-presidential residence home, here are 12 benefits exclusive to the veep.
Vice-presidents receive a generous salary plus cost-of-living adjustments
While the salary of the president is capped at US$400,000, the salary of the vice-president is more fluid, possibly due to the fact that the constitution said nothing about the vice-president’s earnings.
Vice-president Mike Pence earned US$230,700 in 2019 and it was set to increase to US$243,500 in 2020 due to the position’s pay freeze expiring, according to USA Today. However, instead Pence received a 1.9 per cent salary raise, the same raise allotted for all federal workers. This brought his expected current salary up to about US$235,100 per year.
They live at 1 Observatory Circle, a 9,150-square-foot mansion close to the White House
Built in 1893, 1 Observatory Circle has been the home of every vice-president since 1977. According to the White House, Walter Mondale was the first vice-president to call it home, and it has since been the primary residence of Bush, Quayle, Gore, Cheney, Biden, Pence and their families.