I have wondered about some of these salaries.
The civil servants — up to GS-15 — have pay schedules that are published. I think they top out at around $150K or thereabouts.
But above GS-15 you get into the Senior Executives System (SES). I think they can get paid whatever the government wants to pay them. Which, apparently, can be a lot.
The Deep State is not made up of GS-15 types. It’s well paid SES creatures.
I am currently doing a coding project for a government agency. Nearly all of the co-workers are black.
I’ve noticed this in every government contract I’ve ever done. A hugely disproportionate number of government workers are black. As high as 80% for some places.