President Donald Trump at a Wednesday press conference called the more than $8 million pay for TVA President Jeff Lyash "ridiculous."
The president said he would support "reducing it a lot" as part of the planned infrastructure program.
He told reporters who asked about the salary, “I’ve been waiting for somebody to ask me about that. It’s been bothering me for a long time, too.”
He also said, “I don’t know the gentleman, but he’s got a heck of a job. He gets paid a lot of money.”
However, Senator Lamar Alexander called it a "non-issue."
He said, “Attacking TVA doesn’t do one thing to solve the pandemic and has no place in federal COVID-19 response legislation. TVA does not receive one dollar in federal taxpayer subsidies or federal appropriations.
"To help families pay their electric bills and keep their power on during this crisis, TVA has made $1 billion in credit available to help 154 local electric utilities in seven states.
"White House staff is unfortunately spreading inaccurate information. When this crisis is over, I’ll be glad to explain to them the facts about the TVA CEO’s pay, which is lower than other big utilities, and TVA’s rates, which are among the lowest in the country, and the number of federal taxpayer dollars going to TVA, which is zero.”