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Stephen Miller and 16 other Trump aides are still receiving taxpayer-funded salaries

Stephen Miller en Fox News (Fox News)
Stephen Miller en Fox News (Fox News)

Donald Trump may no longer be president, but that has not stopped some of his most loyal staffers from drawing a paycheck funded by American taxpayers.

Among the advisers still pocketing public cash is Stephen Miller, the architect of Mr Trump's restrictive and heavy handed anti-immigration policies.

Mr Miller and at least 16 others are part of Mr Trump's post-presidential transition office, according to documents obtained by Business Insider.

Between 20 January and 21 July – the date when the formal presidential transition period ends – Mr Trump's team will collect $1.3m in federal salary and benefits.

That means Mr Trump has more than $200,000 a month to spend on salaries and benefits for his team.

Ten of the aides are working from Palm Beach, Florida, where Mr Trump is currently residing.

Another seven are working out of Arlington, Virginia, presumably due to its proximity to Washington DC.

Though five of the Trump transition staffers’ names were redacted by the General Services Administration in the documents obtained by Business Insider, it is clear that both Mr Miller and Mr Trump’s former deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino are on the team and drawing salaries.

Mr Miller is earning a $160,000 annualized salary, according to the documents obtained from GSA.

While that sum is substantial, Mr Miller is not the highest paid staffer; Mr Scavino commands a $172,500 annual salary, which is the maximum allowed for transition team members.

Mr Scavino is expected to stay on the transition team until July.

When he's not collecting public payouts on behalf of Mr Trump, Mr Miller is busy trying to disrupt policy decisions made by the Biden administration by dragging them into the courts.

Mr Miller has set up a legal group called "America First Legal”, and has used the organisation to try to stymie Democratic policies through lawsuits.

America First Legal recently filed a lawsuit claiming that Covid-19 relief funds meant to help farmers that have historically faced social disadvantages is unfair.

The funds were meant to provide assistance for non-white farmers who typically do not receive the same level of federal subsidies as their white counterparts.

Last week, Mr Miller's group launched another legal challenge attempting to sideline the funding, claiming a provision included in the assistance was discriminatory because it aimed to help women and racial minorities.

“These race and sex preferences are patently unconstitutional, and the Court should promptly enjoin their enforcement. Doing so will promote equal rights under the law for all American citizens and promote efforts to stop racial discrimination,” the group said in the lawsuit.

Mr Miller – who helped formulate and execute the Trump-era child separation policy, resulting in hundreds of children still being lost in the nation's opaque migrant detention system – called the Biden administration's attempts to provide specific assistance to women and minority communities "morally outrageous”.

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