Top staff members of the White House earn the same amount of money as their predecessors in the Bush administration, according to a list released by the White House, the CNN reported on Thursday.

The list, which a 1994 law requires be submitted annually to Senate and House oversight committees, shows 487 employees on the White House personnel list.

Of those, 455 are employed directly by the White House, while an additional 32 are so-called "detailees" borrowed from other federal agencies.

Among them, 122 staffers earn more than 100,000 U.S. dollars annually, compared to 125 employees in the final year of the Bush administration.

Twenty-two White House staffers earn a salary of 172,200 dollars, compared to 18 who made that amount in the Bush White House.

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and press secretary Robert Gibbs both make that amount, as did their Bush counterparts Joshua Bolten and Dana Perino.

Other top Obama aides who earn the same level of salary are senior adviser David Axelrod, White House counsel Gregory Craig, communications director Anita Dunn, speechwriting director Jonathan Favreau, senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, National Security advisor James Jones, and National Economic Council director Lawrence Summers.

The highest-paid White House staff member is Public Health Policy director David Marcozzi, who earns 192,934 dollars.

However, as a detailee borrowed from the Department of Health and Human Services, his salary is not paid directly by the White House.

Source: Xinhua