Feinberg: Pay czar job ‘cost me money’

Kenneth Feinberg said Thursday that he did not keep any of his salary as the special paymaster under the Obama administration and that the job wound up costing him money.

Feinberg, who is now overseeing claims stemming from the BP oil spill, was offered a $120,830 salary for his role in overseeing compensation and pay packages at firms that received bailout money.

The salary was revealed Thursday by Judicial Watch, a conservative legal organization that had requested compensation information under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

Feinberg, a prominent Washington lawyer, said he regularly repaid the money to the Treasury Department and that the job wound up costing him money because of taxes.

“I got a check every two weeks that I endorsed and turned back to U.S. Treasury every two weeks,” Feinberg said in a statement. “And I have to pay taxes on the money I didn’t keep — so it actually cost me money to be the Special Master.”