Alexander Acosta
Then-U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta speaks to the media during a news conference about the arrest of seven people in Miami, Florida, June 23, 2006 REUTERS/Marc Serota

Less than 24 hours after Andrew Puzder withdrew his name from consideration for labor secretary, President Donald Trump on Thursday announced his new nominee: R. Alexander Acosta, dean of the Florida International University College of Law in Miami.

In a cabinet line-up full of millionaires and billionaires, Acosta comes with a comparatively smaller income: $318,368 per year, said Maydel Santana, director of media relations at Florida International University.

That’s more than when he arrived at Florida International University in 2009 when he was hired at $275,000 annually. Before that, he made $140,000 working as the U.S. attorney in Miami. This is significantly less than Puzder, who earned $4 million to $10 million in a given year as CEO of CKO Restaurants.

Acosta is chairman of U.S. Century Bank, a local bank in Florida, but it’s unclear how much he is compensated for that role. Chairs of banks the size of U.S. Century Bank — that, is banks that have nearly $1 billion in assets — earn a median annual retainer of $25,000, a per-meeting fee of $1,200 and equity compensation of $6,172, according to the 2016 Bank Director Compensation Report Survey. The bank did not respond to questions about Acosta's compensation Thursday afternoon.

Previously, Acosta worked as a lawyer in several government positions: He clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito when Alito was on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Acosta worked on the National Relations Board for about a year (2002-03), participating in more than 125 opinions. And he was the first Hispanic assistant attorney general in 2003 when he was appointed to the Civil Rights Division for the U.S. Justice Department.

A search on the money-tracking site OpenSecrets.org found Acosta has donated to Republican politicians a few times in sums of no more than $1,000. In 2009, Acosta donated $500 to the U.S.-Cuba Democracy Pac. The public action committee promotes “an unconditional transition in Cuba to democracy, the rule of law and the free market,” according to its website.

Given this information, it seems Acosta has donated much less than others in Trump's cabinet, such as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos who estimated her family has "possibly" donated $200 million to Republicans.

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