Top-paid federal employee leaving $10.5M job after first-term Trump said were getting rid of him

WASHINGTON — Tennessee Valley Authority CEO Jeff Lyash — the highest-paid federal employee with a compensation package of $10.5 million per year — abruptly announced Friday that he was retiring 11 days after the return to office of President Trump, who during his first term slammed Lyash’s “ridiculous” pay and vowed to fire him.“Sounds like Lyash got DOGE’d,” a senior administration official told The Post, referring to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative to rein in allegedly wasteful federal spending.A TVA rep denied that Lyash was departing either in response to or to get ahead of pressure from Trump’s team after six years in the job.“The answer is no,” spokeswoman Melissa Greene told The Post.“When Jeff was hired in 2019, he told the TVA Board of Directors that he would let them know when he was seriously considering retirement.

Jeff kept his word, beginning those conversations with the Board last fall.”In his good-bye message, Lyash wrote: “While I’m looking forward to my next chapter, spending more time with family, grandchildren, and friends, I will miss our TVA team and the relationships we’ve built across this region.”“The true strength of TVA is its people – an experienced and passionate workforce who work every day to make a difference,” Lyash added.Trump tore into Lyash during the final year of the 45th presidency, saying in August 2020 that “we’re getting rid of him in one form or another.Either the board’s gonna do it, or we’re gonna do it, but he’s gone.”Trump said at the time that Lyash should have been earning “no more than $500,000 a year” and should not get a “lavish” exit package.By law, the president earns $400,000 annually, in addition to a $50,000 allowance for expenses.

Members of Congress receive a yearly salary of $174,000.The then-president, responding to a question from The Post, said that Lyash was grossly overpaid for his role leading the federally ow...